A Stately Pleasure
by Kristen Elizabeth
Summary: Empires fall, lives are torn....love remains. (Complete)
1. A Stately Pleasure Part I

Disclaimer: The characters who make up this story do not belong to me. Takeuchi Naoko-san created them and deserves all credit for that creation. I confess....I did take a little creative liberty with certain facts and events in the Sailor Moon timeline, but I think I give ample explanation for the changes:)   
  
Author's Notes: This story was a long time in coming, much longer than anyone knows. It's sort of been my secret pet project. A lot of factors contributed to its formation and completion. Certainly the response I've gotten on my other Sailor Moon stories helped a great deal. Domo arigatou minna. Another great help came from a composer named Gustav Holst who, before his death in 1934, wrote seven pieces of music dedicated to the seven planets (Pluto hadn't been discovered when he wrote them and Earth didn't get one). The final two pieces, "Uranus, the Magician" and "Neptune, the Mystic" provided hours of inspiration. Wherever you are, Gustav, dankeschoen!! Ich liebe dich!   
  
Dedication: To my brother, Clifton, who has always thought that Sailor Moon should be a little more violent with a little more sex....   
  
**********  
  
"In Xanadu did Kubla Khan, a stately pleasure-dome, decree.  
Where Alph, the sacred river ran, through caverns measureless to man.  
Down to a sunless sea...."  
  
-Samuel Taylor Coleridge  
  
"Mortal men and women defending their own world is not about death...but life."  
  
-Mortal Kombat  
  
*********  
  
A Stately Pleasure  
by Kristen Elizabeth  
  
*********  
  
I don't have very much time left. I probably shouldn't even be doing this, taking the time to write these words. And there are so many words to write. I should be planning, strategizing, focusing on the battle ahead. I am, after all, a warrior. A Sailor Senshi. The last one.   
  
But I find myself drawn to the pen and the paper that lay in front of me. These last moments which should be spent in preparation, I have instead chosen to spend in reflection. They are painful memories, to say the very least, but they're all I have left.   
  
I correct that. There's one other thing I have. The thing that started it all. I will enclose it with these pages, so you who read this might have it to look at. Preserve it. Cherish it. Put it in your museums, a reminder of the old days which were lost. The days when the Moon was the center of the universe and the planets worked together to protect it. The days when the rule of a woman named Serenity was good and fair and the future was visible in the clear blue of her daughter's eyes.   
  
The days when I fell in love and promptly lost it.  
  
*********  
  
The invitation you hold in your hand arrived by air express. I was the first one at the ship when it landed. So little news came to my planet; I wanted to be the first to see what it was.  
  
"Princess." The mail carrier bowed to me. It surprised me that he could tell I was a girl right away. I had to give him credit....most people couldn't. "This is for you."   
  
I took the heavy white envelope from him and nodded my thanks. I recognized the silver-edged stationery immediately. And I could already sense what the invitation was asking me to participate in.   
  
The only question was.....did I really want to meet the other Sailor Senshi?  
  
********  
  
Three days later, as I stepped off the air transport and got my first look at the Moon Kingdom, I realized the answer to that question.   
  
Not really.  
  
The first person to greet me was not a palace courtier or embassary as I had expected, but a young girl with long, blond hair, pulled away from her pretty face by a big red bow. "You must be Uranus!", she squealed, grabbing my arm. "We've heard so much about you. Everyone thought you were a prince for the longest time and now I see why!"   
  
"Venus!!" Another girl with short, blue hair and a sweet smile came to my rescue. "Really, Venus....Uranus must be exhausted from her journey. Don't bombard her with all your crazy thoughts!"   
  
I gave the girl a grateful smile. "It's all right....um...", I trailed off, realizing I had no idea who she was. I knew she was a senshi though. Even though I had never met any of them, I could feel a connection to her, as well as Venus.   
  
"Mercury", she said, lowering her head briefly. "Venus is right about one thing, though. We have heard a lot about you, Uranus. It's an honor to finally meet you."   
  
I decided I liked the Princess of Mercury. She seemed to have a good head on her shoulders. Her little friend Venus was far prettier, but appeared to be more than a little flaky. "You too, Mercury. And Venus", I added, as an afterthought.  
  
"Hey!", Venus cried. "We should take you to the palace so you can get settled in!" With a wave of her hand, she called a porter over to us. "Everyone gets their own room because the Palace is so big. You're going to love it!!"   
  
We began walking a long path to the Palace, the porter following with my one simple suitcase.   
  
"We're sorry that we were the only ones able to come and welcome you", Mercury apologized. "Princess Serenity and Saturn are still sleeping, although only one of them actually needs it." She and Venus exchanged a knowing look. "Jupiter and Mars left the Palace early to go riding..."   
  
"You ride, Uranus, right?", Venus interrupted. "I've heard that you do and you're really good at it!"  
  
"Um..yeah....I'm all right." I felt very overwhelmed; I found myself almost longing for the peace and solitude of my planet.   
  
"Venus", Mercury chided her friend. Then, she turned back to me. "The other senshi have not arrived yet."   
  
"Neptune and Pluto?", I guessed, naming the only two planets she hadn't mentioned, besides Earth.   
  
She nodded. "They'll be here in time for dinner tonight."   
  
We were fast approaching the famous Moon Palace. I had to admit...it was stunning. Stretching nearly a half mile, it was home to over 100 rooms, one being a ballroom that took up almost an entire floor, an indoor pool for swimming and one kept frozen for ice skating...not to mention grounds full of gardens, a tennis court and stables. I was particurally interested in the stables; riding my horse, Amaterasu, back on Uranus was one of my favorite things to do.   
  
The two princesses took me into the Palace through one of the side entrances. Before we went inside though, I dismissed the porter and took my bag. I wasn't used to being waited on.  
  
I was amazed at not only the size and complexity of the Palace, but of the girls' knowledge of the interior. "You two seem to know your way around here pretty well", I commented, as they led me through a long corridor and up a back stairway.   
  
Venus smiled happily. "We practically grew up here. In fact, I think I know it better than I do my own home, Minne Palace." We emerged from the cramped stairwell into a much larger, much more ornate hallway. "Sorry to have to take you up the servants entrance. Queen Serenity is having the main staircase decorated and you can't get through at all right now."   
  
"It's all right", I assured her. Although the palace I called home was no shack, it definitely paled in comparision to this. A large painting hanging in the hall caught my eye. It was of a lovely woman with long silver hair, holding a small, blond child. "This is Queen Serenity?", I asked, stopping in front of it.  
  
Mercury walked back to me. "Yes. And Princess Serenity when she was younger. This portrait has always been a favorite of mine."   
  
I felt a slight twinge of jealousy, an emotion that was foriegn to me. There was a bond between the Senshi of the inner planets and our Queen. I wondered if I would fit in here at all, or if the next few weeks would be spent in isolation. I could handle the latter, isolation; I didn't even mind it, I told myself. But I couldn't help but feel the former would be preferable.   
  
Venus and Mercury stopped in front of a large set of beautifully carved ivory double doors. "The Queen has given us this entire wing for the time we're here", Venus bubbled. A man in full livery stood to the side of the doors. Two cats, one black and one white, but both with gold crescent marks on their foreheads, dozed on the floor near him. The guard watched us out of the corner of his eye. I smiled, wryly. Princesses needed to be watched, after all.   
  
The man moved to open one door for us and we stepped inside. Down the long hall were ten doors, five on each side. As we walked past each door, Venus pointed out which room belonged to which Senshi. "The first on the left is Mercury's...mine is across the hall from hers." We walked a bit more. "This one is Princess Serenity's....she decided to move from her real room, to be closer to us. Mars is across the hall from her."   
  
Mercury took over for Venus as we moved a bit further. "Jupiter's room is next to Serenity's and Saturn stays across from her", she whispered. "Saturn hasn't been feeling well since she got here, so we sort of have to be quiet."   
  
I nodded that I would be.  
  
"Here's your room", Venus continued a moment later. "Neptune, when she arrives, will stay across from you. Pluto's room is next to yours and across from her...." She giggled. "Well...we're not supposed to let it get around the Court, but that's where Prince Endymion is staying."  
  
"Hence, the guard at the door." Mercury hid her own giggle behind her hand. "At least he and Serenity aren't right next door to each other. You know what a light sleeper Jupiter is. If either one of them tries to get to the other's room....." She laughed, too embarassed to continue her thought.   
  
I had to smile at that. Word of the Prince of Earth and the Moon Princesses' involvment had reached even the outer planets. I was surprised though that Queen Serenity would even consider letting him stay in the same wing with us. I supposed she must trust him and her daughter a great deal.   
  
"You're probably famished, but lunch won't be served for another hour or so. We can have the kitchen send you up something, if you'd like", Mercury offered.  
  
"No, thanks", I refused the offer. "I'd really just like to take a hot bath." The transport from Uranus had been as long as it had been tedious.   
  
Mercury smiled. "We understand. We'll see you at lunch then. It'll be served in the Moon Garden."   
  
"Bye Uranus!" Venus gave me a little wave before she and Mercury walked back towards the main hallway.   
  
I sighed when they were out of earshot. "If the rest of the Senshi are anything like Venus, I may just go crazy in two months", I said aloud.   
  
"Don't worry", a masculine voice behind me replied. I swung my head around to see who it was. A tall man, taller than I, with pitch-black hair and piercing blue eyes stood before me. "The Inner Princesses seem a bit silly at first, but once you get to know them, you'll realize they have a great deal of power, and know how to use it." The man moved towards me. "I'm Prince Endymion."  
  
"Um...Princess Uranus", I introduced myself in turn. I surprised myself, using my full title; I didn't on an everyday basis. "But I suppose you probably heard that, too."  
  
The Prince of Earth reached down and took my hand. He brought the back of it up to his lips briefly. "I don't want you to think I was eavesdropping; I just happened to come out of my room at the wrong time. It's a pleasure to meet you, Uranus."   
  
On some sort of instinct, I pulled my hand away. No man had ever treated me like a princess before. I wanted to be angry, but truth be told, it wasn't so terrible. "Thank you. It's...um...good to meet you, too."   
  
There was a pause. "Well, I'll let you get settled, Uranus. Will we see you at lunch?" I nodded my reply, unable to think of anything more to say. "Until then." He gave a slight bow before walking off in the direction Mercury and Venus had just taken, his cape trailing after him.   
  
I sighed again and shook my head. As much as I hated to admit it, being here with my fellow Senshi was throwing me for a loop. And I hadn't even met all of them yet. With that thought, I let myself into my room and closed the door behind me.  
  
My room was incredible. Simple, but elegant. Classically done in shades of dark blue, highlighted with golden yellows. My lips curled up. "Like my fuku." I had to wonder if it was a mere coincidence. I set my suitcase down by the four poster bed and put my hands on my hips. Coincidence or not, it would be a daily reminder of why I was really there.   
  
A little searching led me to my small, private bathroom. Quickly, I shed my journey-worn clothes and twisted the silver knobs of the bathtub. Streams of hot water poured into the porcelain tub; soon, the room was clouded with steam, just the way I liked it. I stepped in and sat down, sinking into the hot water.  
  
I didn't let myself think for a full five minutes. There were a lot of new things to think about, true, but I wanted to take in everything slowly...if that was possible. I had gotten so used to my everyday life on Uranus. Training, riding my horse, more training. I never had to be around anyone except my parents and the servants, never had to make small talk or act like a real princess. I could wear men's clothes and nobody cared.   
  
But here, everything was different. Mercury, Venus and the Prince were all polite about it, but I could tell they had been surprised to see me in loose breeches and a button down shirt. Both girls had been wearing dresses, Venus' in bright yellow and Mercury's in deep blue. They were princesses, bound and determined to look the part. I, on the other hand, was a princess, bound and determined to make others forget it. And maybe even to make myself forget it.   
  
And what of the Senshi I had yet to meet? Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, Pluto and the Moon Princess herself. Would they have the same reactions? Could any of them accept me for what I was? I brought my fist down into the water, sending a spray across my face.   
  
"Who cares if they don't", I told myself, angrily. "I don't need their approval to do my duty and do it well. It's only two months. After that, I can go back home and I never have to see any of them again if I don't want to."   
  
With that resolution, I reached for the soap that had been laid out for me and ducked my head under the water.  
  
***************  
  
When I emerged from my room an hour later, clad in a fresh pair of navy blue breeches and a white blouse, I was relieved to see no one in the hallway. Perhaps I could find my own way to the Moon Garden without having to ask for anyone's help. I took off towards the main hallway, walking carefully as not to be heard by anyone who might still be in their room.   
  
"Are you Princess Uranus?", a very small, very quiet voice behind me asked. It was the second time that day someone had snuck up behind me; I didn't appreciate it. I whirled around, prepared to confront whoever the voice belonged to, but as soon as I saw who it was, I thought better. A frail, ebony-haired child in a long, lavender dress stood in front of one of the doors, her pale hands clasped together at her heart. It was Saturn's room, I remembered Mercury having said, so this must be the Princess of Saturn. But could this, I hated to say it, sickly-looking child really be a Sailor Senshi? The protector of her planet and defender of the Moon Kingdom?  
  
"Yes, I'm Uranus", I answered her question. I approached her and knelt to her level. "And you're Princess Saturn, right?"   
  
She nodded. "I've wanted to meet you ever since I can remember", she whispered.   
  
I wasn't quite sure what to say to that. "The other princesses told me you weren't feeling well. I hope you're...um...feeling better now."   
  
"Yes, I am...a little. Actually..." She looked up at me with wide, violet eyes. "I was hungry. Were you going to lunch too?"   
  
I had no rational explaination for it, save for the same Senshi connection I had sensed with Mercury and Venus, but I felt an immediate link to this girl. They say that children judge less than adults...maybe that was part of it. There was definitely more to the child than met the eye. I felt as though I wouldn't have to put up so many barriers against her. "I am going to lunch. And to tell you the truth, I have no idea where the Moon Garden is."   
  
Saturn smiled for the first time. She took my hand in hers. "You can walk with me. I'm sure we can find it together."   
  
It was the nicest offer I had recieved in a long time. I straightened back up, still holding onto her little hand.   
  
We passed the guard at the door with barely a glance, making a sharp turn to the left and proceeding down the hall. After a moment we stepped through another doorway into the heart of the palace. The main residence of Queen Serenity's home was shaped like a giant rectangle with wings of rooms on all four sides and a huge open air area in the center. From the fourth floor, the top floor, a crystal staircase began. As it reached each floor, it picked up in width. It lead all the way down to the ballroom at the ground level. My jaw dropped open; I had never seen anything quite so breathtaking.   
  
Saturn tugged on my hand. I let her lead me around the balcony and down the grand staircase. When we reached the empty ballroom, I looked up. Far above us, a glass dome enclosed the courtyard, still allowing light to bathe the clear crystal of the last flight of the staircase. I could imagine how beautiful it would be at night when the stars were out.   
  
"Excuse me." Before I could stop her, Saturn caught the attention of a servant passing us. "Where is the Moon Garden?"   
  
The servant stopped and bowed. Amazingly, he didn't drop the two pots of flowers he was carrying in the process. "Directly behind the staircase, Princess. Through the salarium." Bowing again, he continued to wherever he had been headed.   
  
"I'm sorry if you wanted to explore some more, Uranus. I'm just hungry."   
  
I wasn't angry. How could I possible get angry at the child? "It's all right, Saturn. They'll be plenty of time for exploring later."   
  
My apprehension grew as we made our way to the Moon Garden. Everyone would be there. Well, with a few exceptions. Maybe we would be the first ones to arrive. Then I could look everyone over as they came in instead of the other way around.   
  
I was making myself angry. I had never buckled under pressure before...never given a damn what anyone thought of me. Why did the thought of meeting these other girls have such an effect on my state of being? I clentched my jaw. They weren't going to get to me. They just weren't.   
  
We emerged into the Moon Garden a moment later. I could only imagine how many hours the Palace gardeners must have spent to create the lush forest that surrounded us. At the far end of the garden, a foliage dotted rock formation stood, the support to a lovely waterfall. It gracefully tumbled down into a small, winding creek that lazily made its way around the garden, forming a small island in the middle. Like the ballrooom, the Moon Garden was enclosed in glass. It was a fairyland....a private fairyland for the Queen's guests.   
  
I was out of luck. There were already several people on the island, sitting on blankets spread out over the grass. I recognized Venus and Mercury right away; they sat with two other girls in dresses of red and green. Beside them on the blanket, the same two cats I had seen before rested on their sides. Venus idly stroked the white cat's fur. Upon seeing us enter, she gave me a happy wave. Prince Endymion was also there, sitting with a young girl in white. Her long, perfect blond ponytails gave her away. She was the Moon Princess, Serenity.   
  
All eyes were on us. Saturn seemed to sense my hesitation and squeezed my hand. "They're all really nice", she assured me.   
  
I smiled down at her. "Thank you."   
  
A small bridge stretched across the brook to the island. Before we even reached it, Venus stood up. "Uranus!" She headed towards us. "Come meet everyone." She took Saturn's other hand. "I'm so glad to see you up, Saturn." The child turned her face up and grinned at the older girl.   
  
As we approached the small group, the brunette girl in green stood and smoothed down her dress, awkwardly. She reminded me of myself whenever I had been forced to dress up. "I'm Jupiter", she introduced herself. "And this..." She pointed to the girl in red who remained seated "...is Mars."   
  
Mars pushed her thick, black bangs out of her eyes and smiled up at me. "Hello, Uranus."   
  
"Hello", was all I could manage. Too many introductions for one day....  
  
Princess Serenity stood as well and came to my side. "Princess Uranus....I can't tell you how wonderful it is to meet you."   
  
The girl had a surreal quality to her that belied her tiny figure. I felt loyalty, I felt wonder, I felt.....out of place. But I lowered my chin to my chest out of respect. "Princess, it's an honor", I replied.   
  
"Let me introduce Prince Endymion of Earth", the Princess continued.   
  
Endymion stood up. "Actually the Princess and I have already met", he said, but he bowed to me anyways.   
  
"Oh?", Princess Serenity asked, surprised. "Have you heard that Endymion is going to be training with you all, too, Uranus?"   
  
"Only for a week", Endymion corrected her. "Then I have to return to Earth."   
  
"I thought you were going to put off your return as long as you could." Serenity looked up at the Prince, a pout on her lovely face.   
  
He took her hand. "And a week is as long as I can...." They moved off to the side together to talk in private.   
  
Mars looked up at me apologetically. "Excuse their dramatic relationship", she sighed. "It's like a bad Pelenian romance novel."   
  
I laughed; I couldn't help it. The same thought had just run through my mind. It was nice to know I wasn't the only one.   
  
"Come sit down with us", Mercury said, shifting to the left to provide more space on the blanket. "I know you must be hungry now."   
  
I gingerly sat on my knees next to the girl in blue. Venus plopped down next to me, Saturn on her lap. "I am...thank you", I said, reaching for a handful of grapes.   
  
Jupiter sat back down and picked up her goblet. "Venus told us you'd be interested in going riding in the mornings, Uranus. We'd love your company." She drank, still looking at me over the rim of the cup.   
  
I accepted my own goblet of wine from a servant who approached me from behind. "That would be...great."   
  
"We get up very early, but it's the best time to go. No one else is awake and we have the grounds to ourselves, not to mention our choice of the best horses." Mars spread a bit of pate onto a cracker and took a small bite.   
  
"I wish Neptune and Pluto would hurry up and get here", Venus exclaimed. "I can't wait to have everyone all together at once!" Her eyes shone with excitement as she began braiding Saturn's silky black hair.   
  
"It's good to know my absence doesn't go unnoticed", a voice from behind us called out across the water. Everyone, including Serenity and Endymion turned around to see who it was. A tall girl with long, dark green hair stood in the garden's entrance way, a sweet smile on her lips to show her comment's jest.   
  
"Pluto!", Serenity cried, happily. She gathered her skirts and ran across the bridge, flinging herself into Pluto's slender arms. The older girl returned the embrace with as much affection. The blood red color of Pluto's dress spilled onto the white of Serenity's.   
  
"I gather they've met before", I commented aloud.   
  
Mercury smiled. "Pluto comes to the palace often...long before we were born. She's a special friend of the Princess."   
  
"But...she can't be that much older than I am." My brow crinkled in confusion.   
  
Endymion chuckled. "Don't let appearances fool you. Pluto is older than all of us combined."   
  
It was then that I remembered hearing of the Senshi of Time. Pluto. My confusion cleared.   
  
Serenity and Pluto walked back to us, arms linked. "Pluto...I'd like you to meet Uranus", the Princess introduced us. I hastily stood upon hearing my name.   
  
"Uranus", Pluto's voice was warm. "I'm so glad to meet you. It's shame that we never have before....being that our planets are so close to one another."   
  
"A shame", I repeated. I wanted to say more, but no words came out.   
  
Fortunately, little Saturn came to my rescue. "Where is Neptune?", she asked the newcomer.   
  
Pluto kneeled and pulled Saturn onto her own lap. I could feel the bond between them. "Neptune and I were supposed to share the same transport. I've actually gotten to be on Pluto for the past few days. But at the last minute, she sent word that she wouldn't be coming with me. I'm afraid she won't be arriving until at least this evening...maybe not even until tomorrow afternoon."   
  
Mercury looked disappointed. "I was hoping she and I could swim together while everyone else is out riding."  
  
Mars gave her old friend a knowing smile. "Figured that if anyone could compete against you, it'd be the Princess of the Sea?" Mercury blushed, giving herself away.  
  
"She won't miss the ball, will she?", Venus worried. "Queen Serenity told me she's asked Neptune to play the violin.....I hear she's better at it than anyone."   
  
Jupiter broke a cracker in half. "I met her last year when my mother and I spent a weekend at the Triton Hot Springs on Neptune. Trust me....she's not the type to miss an opportunity to dress up and dance."   
  
A princess who liked to make herself pretty and dance with all the handsome young men.....what a surprise. Dress up for the ball..... Inwardly, I groaned. A ball. Balls meant dresses. Princesses wore dresses. I was a princess going to a ball.   
  
I decided I wanted to go home.   
  
******************  
  
Surely enough, when I returned to my room later that afternoon, a white satin garment bag hung from the mahagony beams of the four poster bed. I sighed and took it down, rehanging it in the closet. I didn't want to look at it...didn't want to think about it until the next day.   
  
There was a knock at my door. "Coming", I replied, walking to it and twisting the knob. The Princess of Jupiter stood in the hallway.  
  
"I hope I'm not disturbing you", she said, politely.   
  
I shook my head. "No...not at all. Um...come in." I gestured her in. Once her green dress was clear of the door, I closed it. "What can I do for you?"   
  
"Nothing really...I just didn't get a chance to talk to you much at lunch, what with Venus and Serenity talking and all." She crossed her arms. "I love them dearly, but there are times I wish I could somehow mute them."   
  
I smiled. "I can imagine."   
  
There was a little pause as she looked around my room. "Let me guess...", she began. "Your fuku has a navy blue skirt with a yellow bow."   
  
"I knew it wasn't a coincidence."   
  
Jupiter grinned. "My room is green and the bathroom is pink. Queen Serenity likes details. It's one of the most amazing things about her...she knows how to make you feel at home even when you're light years away from it."  
  
"I'm...looking forward to meeting her", I replied, truthfully. "Please...um...sit down." I pointed to a small armchair near the room's dressing table.   
  
Jupiter complied, sinking down into it. I took the smaller, harder chair that belonged to the dressing table itself. "So...", I said, unsure of where to go from there.   
  
"May I ask you something?", Jupiter wondered.   
  
"All right", I replied, more than a little wary.   
  
"How come you've never visited the Moon Kingdom before?"   
  
I took a breath and held it for a moment. "Well....it's just that it's so...far away from Uranus..."  
  
"Pluto is even farther out, yet I know Pluto like a sister."   
  
"I don't know what to tell you, Jupiter." I ran a hand through my hair. "Maybe it's just easier to stay on Uranus....train alone." I regretted the words as soon as they came out of my mouth.   
  
Jupiter reached for my hand, as though we had known each other for years. "Well, you're here now. And I'm glad. Venus was right....having the whole team together is just what we need." She stood up. "On that note, we're going to do a little bit of training before dinner...if you want to come along."  
  
I thought for a second. Of course I wanted to...I had a lot of energy to burn. But.... "Will everyone be there? Pluto, Saturn...Venus?"   
  
"Not Saturn. Queen Serenity doesn't want....well, let's just say it wouldn't be a very good idea to let Saturn exercise her powers. But Pluto and Venus, yes. Especially Venus."   
  
"Why especially Venus?"   
  
Jupiter cocked her head to the side, strangely. Her long ponytail draped over her shoulder. "She's our leader."   
  
**************  
  
The rest of the day passed in a blur. Under Venus' direction, the other girls and I went through a series of rigorous warm up exercises, ending with some energy work. We had agreed not to transform into our Sailor Senshi states until Neptune arrived...somehow it seemed appropriate to do it together. Like a team.   
  
I was forced to admit; Prince Endymion had been right. The Inner Senshi knew what they were doing. Even Venus, despite how she presented herself in everday conversation. But I couldn't help but feel a little proud to note that although the girls were strong, especially Jupiter, Pluto and I could easily gain the upper hand in the sparring exercises. I couldn't wait to see if that held true when were allowed to use our real powers.   
  
Dinner was an informal affair, much like lunch except we ate in the dining room. The Queen did not join us, but the Princess promised it wasn't because she didn't want to. Important affairs of state.... I understood; it was the same reason I barely knew my own parents. Affairs of state.   
  
After the meal was over, I found myself with nothing to do. I was too wound from the late day training to sleep, but it was too dark to take a horse out riding. I could read, I supposed, but that would require finding the library. Fortunately, Mars approached me as I left the dining room.  
  
"Everyone's heading to the parlor, Uranus." She smiled. "There's not a whole lot else to do. Will you come?"   
  
I nodded, gratefully. "Thank you."   
  
The group sans Neptune, who much to Venus' dismay still had yet to arrive, had somehow beaten us to the parlor. Pluto sat in a high backed armchair, Saturn on her lap. Together, they were poring over a large picture book. In front of the fireplace, Jupiter and Mercury were setting up a chess game. Venus sat on the love seat with Serenity and Endymion. I double-blinked upon seeing the two girls together, that close. The resemblance between them was striking. I knew why, and it comforted me to know that if the Princess ever came into danger, Venus would have no problems passing for her.   
  
Serenity looked up as we came in. "Uranus", she addressed me happily. "Is it true that you play the piano?"   
  
I couldn't lie. "I do...a little." I had to wonder how everyone knew so much about me. It was disquieting. My eyes strayed to the upright piano against one wall. Oh....they wanted me to play. I gave a little shrug and walked over to it.   
  
It was in tune, I was glad to discover after playing a few notes. I sat down and started up a waltz I had commited to memory.   
  
As I played, I realized something. Being there...it wasn't as terrible as I had envisioned it. But when I took my eyes from the keys and looked at the other girls, I still felt slightly lost in the group. Something was missing, I just couldn't define what it was.   
  
The feeling stayed with me through the evening. When I eventually retired for the night, promising Jupiter and Mars that I would not fail to get up in time to go riding with them, I locked my door behind me and slumped onto the bed, not bothering to undress. The sooner I fell asleep, the sooner I could escape the feeling. The feeling of....lonliness. I snorted into the covers. Imagine, feeling lonely while surrounded by eight other people. But lonely I was. Would I stay that way for two months?   
  
***************  
  
My internal clock woke me up the next morning. A very weak, struggling light peaked through the curtains and told me it was time to get up. Mars and Jupiter would be by at any moment. With as much energy as I could muster, I managed to drag myself up and into my riding clothes.   
  
I met Jupiter and Mars in the hallway and we left the palace together, heading for the stables. We chose our horses and had the stable boy saddle them for us. It didn't surprise me that Mars chose to ride side-saddle, but I was glad to see Jupiter go with a traditional saddle. I didn't stick out quite as much when I chose the same. From the elaborate grounds, we took off in a trot, moving the animals quickly up to a gallop. I let my horse follow the others, having absolutely no idea where we were or were going.   
  
After almost an hour, Mars held up her hand and signaled for a break. Jupiter and I slowed our horses down, although I could tell she wanted to keep going, as I did.   
  
As we let the animals graze, Mars shifted in her saddle. "Did you all hear Neptune arrive this morning?"   
  
Jupiter nodded. "It woke me up around four thirty."   
  
"I didn't know transports ran that late", I commented.   
  
Mars shrugged. "Well, it wasn't a regularly scheduled one, I don't think. She probably has her own."   
  
"La di da", I found myself muttering, quite cattily, under my breath.   
  
The Princess of Jupiter laughed out loud. "Oh...she's not that bad. I didn't spend a lot of time with her last year, but I got the feeling she's more quiet than anything. Reserved, but not stuck up."   
  
"I hope you're right", I replied. The last thing our team needed was a prima donna from Neptune. "At least Venus will be happy now."   
  
"Yes, but we probably won't get to do any training with her today. I overheard her tell the porter that she planned to sleep until it was time to get ready for the ball." Jupiter pulled on the reins to keep her horse from wandering away.   
  
Mars stroked her horse's mane. "Actually, I'm with her there. A nap before the ball sounds good."   
  
The ball. I gave an involuntary shudder. I had almost managed to forget about it.   
  
"Hoping to look your best for a certain general from Earth?", Jupiter innocently suggested.   
  
The raven haired girl blushed deeply, betraying herself. "As if you won't be spending a good amount of time in front of a mirror today for the same reason."   
  
I was so consumed with the thought of dressing up, that I failed to hear Jupiter's reply. I did hear Mars say something back and the sounds of laughter, but the next words I heard clearly were from Jupiter. "Come on, Mars." She tapped her heels into her horse's sides and clicked her tongue. "Uranus and I will give you head start back to the Palace."   
  
**************  
  
It was a short day. Days are always short when you're dreading something to come. And I dreaded going to this ball. I lingered over breakfast, putting off looking at the gown that had been left for me yesterday. Afterwards, I played chess with Mercury until I had beaten her four times in a row.   
  
"You're amazing, Uranus. I'd love to keep going, but the dressmaker is coming to adjust my gown in ten minutes."   
  
Lunch was served soon after that. I was the first at the table and the last to leave. Anything to avoid going to my room.   
  
With the help of a servant, I found the library and spent a few hours looking through the Palace's collection of books. At five past four, a servant approached me.   
  
"Princess...." Her eyes strayed to my breeches for a second. "The Queen has sent me to give you this." The young girl held out a large, square velvet box. A jewler's box.   
  
I accepted it without opening it. "Thank you." The girl bowed and left the room.   
  
With a heavy heart, I climbed the crystal stairs, heading for my room. I could no longer put it off. It was my duty to be at the ball.....in a dress and jewels. Duty was duty.   
  
When I entered our wing of the palace, I heard laughter. The door to Venus' room was open; inside, Venus sat in front of her dresser, clad in a robe. A servant was curling her hair with a hot piece of iron. Catching my appearance in the mirror, she waved to me. I smiled in return and continued down the hallway.   
  
I heard sounds from the room across from mine as well. A violin being tuned. Anyone else would have taken the opportunity to meet the mysterious Princess of Neptune. I simply went into my own room and shut the door.   
  
Setting the box down onto my dresser, I went to the closet and stared at the hateful white satin garment bag. "If you're pink...I'm not going", I told the dress inside.   
  
There was only one way to find out. Taking a deep breath, I reached out and unbuttoned the side of the bag. A fold of soft, navy blue silk peeked through the opening. Gingerly, I lifted the dress out and held it arm's length. It was entirely dark blue, strapless with a higher than normal waist and a long, full skirt. Beautiful...but was it me? I sighed. What choice did I have? Show up in the dress uniform I had brought with me? It was an option, but did I really feel like being stared at by courtiers and whispered about by society matrons all night long? I laid the dress on the bed before going to take a long bath. I'd decide when I was good and relaxed, I told myself. No rush.   
  
Two hours later found me sitting at my dresser in a white terrycloth robe, no nearer to deciding what to wear for the ball than I had been before my bath. I picked up a silver comb and idly ran it through my short hair, remembering the last time I had been to a ball. It had been the 50th anniversary of my grandmother's reign over Uranus. I was thirteen at the time, but I already knew I wasn't the pretty princess everyone expected me to be. So, I wore a full dress uniform of my younger brother's. And I still haven't heard the end of it.   
  
No, I wouldn't be the cause of another scandal. I wanted to get through the evening, unnoticed. Let the attention be put on Serenity or Venus or this Neptune. But not me. I would blend. And to blend...I'd have to wear the dress.   
  
************* 


	2. A Stately Pleasure Part II

*************  
  
The orchaestra Queen Serenity had sent for from Earth was already playing when I stepped out of my room. I could actually hear it and the sounds of guests arriving and laughing from our wing. Taking a calming breath, I lifted the hem of my gown's skirt awkwardly and made my way to the center of the palace. There seemed to be servants everywhere, dressed in formal clothing...very different from the plain clothes I was used to them wearing. They all nodded at me as I passed, but not a single one stared. I felt a small amount of satisfaction. I blended.   
  
When I reached the balcony that overlooked the courtyard ballroom, I stopped for a moment. The crystal staircase, as well as the balcony handrails, were lined with hundreds of tiny, twinkling lights. Men and women from all over the solar system filled the courtyard, dressed in every color of the spectrum. I felt safe on the balcony, just watching. Detached.   
  
Someone touched my bare shoulder. I spun around and saw Pluto before me. She looked even more lovely than she had for the past two days. Her dress was the same design as mine, except in her color of dark, almost black blood red. Her dark green hair was pulled back from her face, braids of it wound round her crown. Around her neck was a string of onyx and diamonds. I put a hand to the jewels at my own throat, sapphires and diamonds. "Pluto...don't sneak up on me like that!"  
  
"I'm sorry", she apologized. "I saw you standing there and thought perhaps we could walk down together."   
  
Surprise wearing off, I nodded. "Of course. Um...thank you. I really wasn't looking forward to going alone."   
  
"I got that impression. Don't worry, Uranus. I have a feeling tonight will be...very special for you."  
  
With that cryptic thought, Pluto and I made our way around the balcony to the edge of the magnifcent staircase. "Here goes", I muttered, adjusting my own crown. I prayed it would stay in place for the whole dance. I had little hair with which to secure it.   
  
It felt as though all eyes in the ballroom were on us. In reality, probably only a few courtiers noticed us entering, but for those few seconds it took to reach ground level, I felt like the most conspicous person on the Moon.   
  
Before we even reached the final crystal step, the Inner Senshi were upon us. Venus grabbed my hands excitedly. "Oh Uranus!! You look beautiful!!"   
  
I knew it wasn't true, but it was nice to hear anyways. They were the ones who truly looked beautiful. Mercury in bright blue and sapphires, Jupiter in forest green and emeralds, Venus in yellow-orange and topaz and finally, Mars in apple red and rubies. They were like a rainbow. A very loud, jewel-bedecked and crowned, slightly tipsy rainbow.  
  
I forced a smile. "Where is everyone else?"   
  
Jupiter replied, "Serenity and the Queen are going to enter together a little later on. The ambassadors from Cirus have Endymion and the generals cornered talking about their alliance with Earth or some such thing. And Saturn....well...she was here a minute ago."   
  
"I'm right here." The child approached us from behind. I had the brief thought of putting a bell on her, but dismissed it quickly. To my slight surprise, she slipped her hand into mine. "I like your dress", she whispered to me.   
  
"I like yours." And it was the truth. Her regal purple gown wasn't strapless like her fellow senshi, it had short, puffed sleeves instead, but still had a high waist and full skirt. Diamonds and amythest lay around her throat and her tiny crown couldn't have looked better against the ink of her hair.   
  
Mars looked around. "We're just missing one person."   
  
As if on cue, the maestro ended the waltz that had been playing. "Ladies and gentlemen", he addressed the Queen's guests. "Her Majesty, Queen of the Moon Kingdom, Sovreign of the Silver Millenium has asked one of our Kingdom's youngest violinists to play for you tonight. Please...join me in welcoming the lovely and talented Princess of the Outer Planet of Neptune."   
  
The guests broke in a smattering of applause. I must have joined in the movement, but I can honestly say I can't remember conciously bringing my hands together.   
  
The world had stopped. I chuckle even now as my pen writes that sentence, but it was true. Everything came to a crashing halt when I saw her for the first time.   
  
Her dress was just the same as all of ours, but somehow the blue-green color was the loveliest. Her necklace was made of the finest aquamarines and diamonds, but somehow it sparkled just a little bit more than anyone else's. Her crown of diamonds, identical to the one on my own head, sat perfectly in the waves of turquoise colored hair that spilled down to the creamy white skin of her shoulders and back.   
  
Neptune curtsied to the Queen's guests and lifted her violin, settling it between her shoulder and her chin. A second passed and she began to play. I had never heard a more beautiful melody in all my life. And I have never heard a lovelier one since.   
  
I felt Saturn come up to my side; her small body pressed against my leg. But I couldn't tear my eyes off of Neptune.   
  
"She's wonderful, isn't she?", Saturn whispered.   
  
In surprise, I looked down at the small girl. "She...um...plays very well."   
  
Mars approached my other side. "Does she look like the model of a Sea Princess or what? Although I half expected her to have a fish tail."   
  
I looked back at Neptune. Her eyes were closed; her face serene. She was lost in the music. I wanted to be lost with her. "I hope you're not too disappointed that she doesn't", I replied, flatly.   
  
I heard Jupiter laugh over my right shoulder. "She's just jealous."   
  
"Me? Never!" Mars paused. "But I will say this...she gives new meaning to the words 'perfect hair and skin'."   
  
Venus giggled. "Sounds like jealousy to me."   
  
Somehow, I managed to tune them all out. My focus was entirely on Neptune as she continued to play. I don't believe I even blinked.   
  
Sadly, the piece she played had to end. After a huge round of applause from the guests, Neptune curtsied again and handed her violin to a servant. Gathering her skirts, she eased her way into the crowd and began to make her way over to us.   
  
I panicked. I didn't know what to do. I wanted to meet her...she was the only person I had seen since I arrived on the Moon who I actually wanted to meet. But...it scared me.   
  
"Excuse me. I'm thirsty." The excuse was flimsy, even to my own ears. The other princesses looked at me strangely. I managed a weak smile before turning and walking away. Behind me, I could hear Venus' voice greeting Neptune.   
  
Pushing through the crowd of diplomats and courtiers, I eventually reached the front entrance of the Palace. There was a great marble balcony overlooking the large reflection pools that lined the path leading to the Palace. Columns ran around the balcony, providing plenty of shadowed spaces one could easily hide in. I stepped into one and leaned against the stone railing. I could feel the coolness of the marble through the flimsy silk of my gown.   
  
I must have stood there looking out on the reflection pools for a long time. I would have stayed out for the rest of the evening if I hadn't felt a slight tap on my shoulder. Whipping my body around, I came face to face with the Princess of Neptune.   
  
"Oh!", she breathed, putting a hand to her chest. "You scared me!"   
  
I struggled to catch my breath, the shortness of which I couldn't entirely attribute to surprise. "*I* scared *you*?"  
  
Neptune laughed, a soft watery sound. "My apologies. Jupiter said she saw you come out here."   
  
"You followed me?"   
  
She blinked deep marine blue eyes. "Is that all right?"   
  
For perhaps the second time in my life, my cheeks turned pink. "Yes...um...it's all right with me." I cleared my throat.   
  
There was a pause. "I'm Neptune", she said, unnecessarily.  
  
I hesitated. "Uranus."   
  
"It's nice to meet you at last."  
  
I nodded my head. "We...um...were afraid you wouldn't make it in time for the...um...the..." I searched for the word.   
  
"The ball?", she supplied, the corners of her shimmery pink lips turned up.   
  
"Yes..the ball."   
  
She threw her head back slightly and laughed again. "A princess missing the opportunity to get dressed up and dance? Not likely."   
  
I paled. "How did you know that I...?"  
  
"How did I know that you what?"   
  
It was my turn to blink. "That I thought that...um...never mind. Never mind." My head was foggy; I couldn't think straight. "Anyways...you look good...um...dressed up."   
  
Neptune blushed. "So do you. But...can I ask you something?"   
  
"All right."   
  
She stepped closer; her perfume surrounded me with a light sea spray aroma. "Is this what you normally wear?"   
  
I stared down at the girl. "What?"   
  
"I'm sorry, Uranus. I hope I haven't offended you. It's just that...." She hesitated. "Your dress...it doesn't seem like your style. And I know I can't really say that", she quickly added. "We only met two minutes ago. It's just a feeling I'm getting."   
  
Slowly, I shook my head. "You haven't offended me, Neptune. You're right...I'm not used to dressing up." I turned again and looked back out on the reflection pools. "No one's ever...." My voice trailed.   
  
She came around to my right side. Shoulder to shoulder, we leaned against the stone railing. "They should have. It's blazingly obvious."   
  
My head snapped to the right. "What's blazingly obvious?", I demanded.   
  
"That you're special, Uranus", she replied, quietly.   
  
Unsure of how to respond to that, I glanced up at the sky. Hanging like a clouded orb, the Earth looked down on us. Blue and green....it was magnificent.   
  
She seemed to read my mind. "I've always wanted to see the Earth from the Moon. They say it's the most beautiful planet in the system."   
  
"I don't know", I found myself admitting. "Neptune could contend for the position." Due in no small part to their princess.   
  
Her smile brightened. "You've looked at Neptune?" I nodded. "I've seen Uranus through my father's telescope", she confessed. "It's...."   
  
"It's very dull."   
  
"Well, I wasn't going to say that", she giggled. "Besides, you can't really tell from a telescope. Perhaps someday I can visit and see it close up."   
  
My throat was dry. "That would be...I don't know if that would be a good....", I managed to say.   
  
"I see you two have met." Pluto's voice interrupted from across the balcony. She approached us.   
  
"Yes, Uranus has just graciously invited me to visit her planet someday", Neptune told the older girl, a mischevious glint in her blue eyes.   
  
I had to laugh.   
  
Pluto's smile was genuine. "I had a feeling you two would get along." She held out her hand. "Now, come on. Queen Serenity and the Princess are getting ready to enter."   
  
***************  
  
The rest of the evening....well, I can't remember much about it. I could tell you exactly who Neptune talked to, who she danced with, what she said, how deep she bowed when Queen Serenity finally appeared with the Princess, how many times she touched her hair. But other than that, I draw a blank. I'm sure I must have talked to people, maybe even danced with an ambassador or two. But I couldn't say for sure.   
  
The ball continued on late into the night, but the opportunity to talk to Neptune alone did not come up again, search for one though I did. Everyone wanted to talk to her, to be around her; I couldn't blame them. She was like the legendary Siren...calling to journey-worn sailors with a sweet song that filled their minds and hearts. If I followed, as I wanted to, would I be dashed up onto the rocks?   
  
I was sipping a crystal goblet of wine and contemplating this when I noticed that the ballroom was beginning to thin out. Heady with an evening of spirits and dancing and royalty, the guests had begun to retreat to their transports, or to their rooms if they were lucky enough to have been invited to stay in the Palace. My eyes scanned the courtyard, searching for a familiar face.   
  
"Jupiter!", I called to the lovely brunette girl. She was standing several yards away, partially hidden by a crystal pillar of the staircase, talking to a tall, uniformed man with long, auburn hair. I recognized the symbol of the Court of Earth amung the medals on his breast.   
  
She turned her head and waved me over. Handing my goblet to a passing servant, I picked up the hem of my skirt and joined the couple. "Uranus...I'd like you to meet the most illustrious of the illustrious Generals of Earth, Nephrite." Her words weren't exactly slurred, but they held a happy glow that only alcohol could create. "Nephrite, this is the Princess of Uranus."   
  
The man bowed his head and reached for my hand, kissing the back of it much in the same manner as his Prince had the day before. "Truly, it's my pleasure, Princess."   
  
I fought the urge to roll my eyes. What was it with the men of Earth? I looked at Jupiter. "Has everyone already gone to bed?"  
  
Her eyes never left Nephrite's handsome face. "No...Mars invited everyone back to her room. They're probably all there..."   
  
"All right." The wine must have taken ahold of me; I concealed a grin behind my hand. "Are you two coming?"  
  
Nephrite smiled at me, baring even, white teeth. "Eventually", he replied, with a completely straight face.   
  
My grin fell. I blinked, unbelievingly, before turning and beginning the long hike up the crystal stairs to our wing of the Palace. I thought about going back to make sure Jupiter was all right, but then thought better of it. She was a big girl, a warrior at that. Certainly she could take care of herself.   
  
The guard at the ivory doors had been dismissed...or was simply off enjoying the party I knew the servants must be having in their quarters. The Inner Senshi's feline guardians, who's names I had learned were Luna and Artemis, were also missing. I shook my head, amused. It was promising to be one hell of a night.   
  
The walk to Mars' room was short and I could hear the sounds of the party as I stepped into the hallway. I knocked on her door and it wasn't long before she answered.  
  
"Uranus!", she cried happily. "Come in...please!" She shut the door behind me. "We were just about to send someone to get you."   
  
I looked around the room. Mercury and Venus were standing in the far corner, deep in what was apparently a very amusing conversation with two men in uniforms identical to Nephrite's. More of the "illustrious" Generals of Earth, I presumed. A fourth man in the same uniform sat on the bed, his eyes following Mars' every move. Serenity and Endymion lay on the wine-colored love seat; Serenity's back rested against Endymion's chest and his arms wound round her tiny body, protectively. Pluto kept a close eye on them from the next chair over. She had taken her hair down and was playing with a long, green strand as she talked to the royal couple.   
  
But Neptune was nowhere in sight.   
  
"Quite a party", I commented.  
  
She led me over to the bed. "Uranus....I'd like you to meet the most handsome of the handsome Generals of Earth, Jaedite."  
  
I burst out laughing. Had the girls rehearsed this? "I'm sorry." I stifled myself. "Nice to meet you, General Jaedite."   
  
The man with golden-blond hair smiled at me strangely. "The pleasure is mine, Princess Uranus." Mars sat next to him and discreetly intwined her fingers with his.   
  
"Have you met the generals already, Uranus?", she asked.   
  
"Not all of them", I replied truthfully.   
  
She craned her neck around to see the four people in the far corner. "Well, the tall man with the really white-blond hair...that's Kunzite." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "Hands off though...he belongs to Venus."  
  
True enough, as I looked over at the others, I saw the general slip a hand around Venus' tiny waist. I held my own hands up to signal my lack of interest.   
  
"And next to Mercury is Zoisite", she continued. She looked around. "I guess Jupiter is still downstairs with Nephrite...."  
  
I cleared my throat. "Um..yeah...I think I saw them down there." There was a pause. "So...everyone's accounted for....Saturn's asleep?"   
  
Mars nodded. "And Neptune went for a swim in the pool. Said she had to clear her mind or something like that."   
  
My heart leapt into my throat at hearing her name. "Oh?", I replied, striving to sound as uninterested in the Princess of Neptune as I was in the Earth's generals.   
  
"Actually, I think she was hoping for some company", Pluto announced as she came up behind me. I wondered what a person had to do to keep from being snuck up on in this palace? Still, I was grateful for the little tidbit of information. Pluto looked at me with her unique colored eyes.   
  
I stared back at those eyes, expecting to find disapproval or disdain in their scarlet centers, but all I saw was understanding and encouragement. My cheeks were flushed, but I was too elated, or intoxicated, to feign disinterest any longer. Was my desire, as I had decided it must be, for Neptune any more scandalous than what could be going on downstairs between a General of Earth and the Princess of Jupiter? Or what was going on underneath Serenity's silver-white ballgown while Pluto's back was turned?   
  
It wasn't. And my mind was made up before I even realized it. "If you'll all excuse me." I lowered my head.   
  
I could feel Pluto watching me leave in bemused silence. "Goodnight, Uranus", she called out just as I stepped into the hallway.   
  
************  
  
My new-found sense of determination was nearly lost when I remembered, halfway back to my room, that I couldn't swim.   
  
"What am I doing?", I asked myself outloud. My voice bounced off the molded walls. Here I was, preparing to put myself, the non-swimmer that I was, alone in a pool with the most attractive woman in the solar system who, in all likelihood, wanted nothing more than my friendship. "I must be crazy."   
  
I had no plan, no thought beyond seeing her again, talking to her, hearing her voice....watching her. When I told her this story much later, she laughed at me, wondering how I could have been so obtuse as not to have sensed her mutual desire from the very start. At that time though, my mind was in a quandry. Should I go? Should I not? Should I wait for a signal from her or rush ahead on my own?   
  
It was a defining moment for me. Risk had always been my friend in the past, something I craved even more than a lover's touch. Not that the two people I had been with in my life had even come close to inciting in me the feelings I had been overcome with simply by looking at Neptune. But then, what had I expected from the guardian of a distant star just passing through Uranus for a week and the son of a palace courtier? They had been flings, something to break up the monotony of life on my planet. Hasty, lustful, satisifying enough, but both having left something to be desired.   
  
That wasn't what I wanted from the Sea Princess. Of course I was physically attracted to her; what man, or woman for that matter, in their right mind wouldn't have been? She was beautiful. But while her beauty was her siren call, it wasn't what made me want to sail my ship to her rock. Forgive me my metaphors; they are the only way I can even begin to describe what happened to me that night.   
  
What made me want to answer the siren's call was much more than her face or her body. I couldn't explain it at the time, and I find that I can't explain it now, especially when I have so little time left, but she understood me. She, whom I had only known for a matter of...minutes, really, understood me more than anyone in my life ever had. More than my parents, more than my siblings, more than the other Senshi. It was as though she could just look at me and with that one glance, see inside my soul.   
  
At one time, I might have considered the idea of someone having this power to have been intrusive. But not Neptune. More than anything else, I wanted her to know me. I wanted to know her. I wanted her to take away the lonliness.   
  
I wanted her love me.   
  
I don't know how the people of your time and society feel about such matters as this, but in mine, they weren't even an issue. Of course, in the past, long before the current Serenity took the throne, there were repercussions for what were called "indecent, perverse dalliances". But by the time Serenity was coronated, society no longer placed such hateful limitations on love. They may not have liked for a princess to wear pants, but if she chose to give her heart to another princess, it was completely acceptable. Love was love. Is love. We should embrace it any way it comes to us and smile upon it in any way it comes to others. To do otherwise, to hate people for loving, that is the only true perversion. I hope it is the same in your time.   
  
But I stray from my story, and trust me, I have no time to waste. Forgetting for a moment that I could not swim, I left our wing, hoping to track down at least one servant who could point me in the general direction of the pool. I was lucky enough to spot a pair of scullery maids after only a few minutes. In between much giggling, they gave me the directions I needed.   
  
The ballroom was now empty; my heeled shoes clicked loudly against the crystal stairs. Most of the lights had been put out by the servants; only a few remained lit, providing a strange sort of illumination to the immense room. From one dark corner, I heard giggling and whispering.   
  
"Shh...hear someone?...don't want....get caught." I could barely make out the words.   
  
The response, however, I understood clearly. "I don't want you thinking about anyone but me right now." There was a rustling of silk and the unmistakable sound of heavy breathing. "God, you feel good, Jupiter...."   
  
Pressing my lips together to keep from having my own breath heard, I reached down and removed my shoes. Silently, I made my way across the ballroom and into the safety of another hallway.   
  
The night had grown cold and even the torches that lined the walls weren't able to remove the chill away from the long, quiet hallway I was walking down. But as soon as I stepped into the pool area, I was surrounded by warm air.   
  
She was floating on her back in the water. Her hair spread around her head like a halo; her body was clad in a mint green bathing shift. To put it delicately, it left little to the imagination. Neptune's eyes were closed and I found myself wondering what she was thinking of as she enjoyed her element.   
  
As quietly as possible, I set my shoes onto a chaise lounge chair along with my crown and approached the edge of the pool. I stood there for a moment, enjoying merely looking at her. She was exquisite...flawless. I swallowed heavily.   
  
"Are you going to stand there all night or are you going to join me?" Her voice bounced off the walls of the room, but her eyes remained closed.   
  
I blinked and searched for a reply. "I...I don't have any bathing clothes" was what I came up with.   
  
The corners of her lips turned up. "Since when does one need bathing clothes to go for a swim?" When I failed to reply, due to the fact that my tongue was completely knotted, she opened her eyes. "Forgive me, Uranus. I don't always think before I speak."   
  
"Oh no...no", I found myself saying. "It's...quite alright. I just....I can't..."   
  
Neptune righted her body, but bent her knees so that just what was above the tops of her shoulders were above the surface. Water dripped from the ends of her hair. "You can't what? Swim?"   
  
I turned around so I wouldn't have to answer. She had hit upon the truth. Water was a scarce commodity on my planet; what little existed was used for washing, cooking, bathing, drinking....certainly not for recreation.   
  
"I'm sorry, Uranus", she apologized. I turned back to see her giving me a look of sympathy. "I suppose I take it for granted that everyone must know how to just because I was born in the sea." She stood up in the waist deep water and pushed her way over to the side of the pool. "Would you like me to teach you?"   
  
I looked down at her, finding only sincerity in her blue eyes. "You...you really want to teach me to swim?"   
  
"Well, how else am I going to get you into the pool?"   
  
"I don't know..", I hesitated. "I'm not afraid of the water...I just....I don't know..."   
  
Neptune thought for a moment. "All right then. If you won't come in..." Gracefully, she pulled herself out of the pool and stood up in front of me. Her shift clung to every curve of her body. It took all my willpower to keep my eyes at the same level as hers. "I'll have to get out", she finished.   
  
I couldn't help but smile. "You can't possibly want to talk to me that much."   
  
"I could have talked to you from there. But I couldn't be close to you." The water that pooled around her feet touched my bare toes.   
  
"And..." Unconciously, I stepped towards the siren. "You want to be close to me?"  
  
She nodded and took her own step forward. As her chin tilted up, I could feel her warm breath against my mouth. "I want to be close to you", she said, her voice low and private.   
  
"Why?", I whispered. I wet my lips in expectation of things to come.   
  
"Because..." Her cool hands touched my forearms. "I have to be close in order to do this...." My eyes closed. But instead of lips pressed against my own, I suddenly felt the sensation of moving through space...heading straight for the water.   
  
Realizing what was about to happen, my arms lifted from my sides and clasped onto Neptune's. As I felt my feet leave the crystal tiles, I pulled with all my might. If I was going down, I wasn't going alone. Together, we hit the water.   
  
Warm wetness surrounded me. My mouth opened in shock but quickly closed when pool water flooded into it. The yards of material around my legs made it difficult to move, but somehow my feet found the bottom of the pool and I broke the surface.   
  
Neptune was already standing when I opened my eyes. Her arms held her sides as she laughed. "I'm sorry, Uranus", she managed to say. "I couldn't help myself....and you said you weren't afraid of water, so...." She bit her lip. "You're not mad, are you?" I shook my head and coughed. "Good...you're not hurt then, right?"   
  
"Only my pride", I muttered. With one hand, I pushed my wet bangs back and shook out my arms. Water-logged navy blue silk spread out around my body. "I didn't really like this dress anyway."   
  
She swam over to me. "You should take it off. It's only going to get in the way."   
  
I raised one eyebrow. Two could play at this game... "Who says there will be anything going on for it to get in the way of?"   
  
Her face suddenly became serious. "I know I'm not the only one in this pool who feels this way...about us."   
  
We stared at each other for what seemed like hours. Finally, I made the next move. Pushing forward through the water, covering what little distance lay between us, I slid one hand around to the small of her back. Before my brain could catch up, I kissed her.   
  
It wasn't a long kiss, just enough time to memorize the taste of her lips. I pulled away first. Her eyes were closed; her neck craned upwards, hoping for more, but I backed up, out of reach.   
  
"Goodnight Neptune", I said. Gathering my soggy skirts, I pulled myself up out of the pool.   
  
Her eyes flew open. At first, I was afraid I might have taken the game too far. But her face relaxed into a cool grin. "We can at least walk back together, Uranus."   
  
I thought it over before holding out my hand to help her out of the water. "We'll have to be quiet. We wouldn't want to disturb anyone on our way back."   
  
She twisted her hair into a rope, squeezing water from it. "Who could possibly still be up and around at this hour?"   
  
"Oh..." I reached for my crown. "You'd be surprised."   
  
**********  
  



	3. A Stately Pleasure Part III

**********  
  
I expected my sleep that night to be restless, but it turned out to be one of the most peaceful slumbers of my life. Just knowing that she was across the hall, a mere thirty feet or so, was enough to make me nod off with no impediments. When I woke, I stretched my arms over my head, settling them against the pillows. It had been years since I had let myself lie in bed, idly. I stared at the molded wood of the ceiling for a minute before getting up and slipping into my riding clothes. I quickly pulled a comb through my hopelessly tangled hair and stepped out of the room.   
  
Neptune was waiting for me. She stood in the doorway to her room wearing a light blue floor length riding habit, her wavy hair pulled away from her face and held in place on either side by aquamarine clips.   
  
I blinked and looked down the hallway. There was no one else in sight. "Um...where are Mars and Jupiter?"  
  
"Good morning to you, too", she replied, wryly.   
  
"No...no!" I put a gloved hand to my forehead in embarassment. "That came out wrong. I'm just...surprised to see you here. Dressed to go riding."   
  
Neptune began pulling on her own gloves. "Well, a girl can't live in the water alone. And after last night, I'll probably never get you near the pool again, so..." She looked up at me, a smile on her face. "Riding it is."   
  
I looked at her strangely. "You do know how to ride, right?" She didn't reply, much the same way I hadn't last night when pressed about swimming. "I'm going to guess there aren't many horses on Neptune."   
  
"We have sea horses", she said, brightly.   
  
"Not the same", I laughed. "You're in for a treat; there's nothing like riding a horse. The power of the animal...the wind on your face...." I stopped, embarassed. "There's just something about it."   
  
There was no mocking in her gaze. Or her words. "Your eyes are shining, Uranus", she whispered. I cleared my throat uncomfortably. She quickly changed the subject. "So...should we wait for Mars and Jupiter?"  
  
As if on cue, Mars stepped out of her room, closing it quietly behind her. She looked surprised to see us down the hall. "Uranus...Neptune", she said. Her usually carefully coiffed hair was in a state of disarray and her cheeks were suspicously flushed. It didn't take long to put the pieces together. I wondered if Jaedite was still asleep; I pitied the chambermaid who stumbled upon him in the Princess of Mars' room.   
  
"Good morning, Mars", Neptune replied, completely oblivious. "I trust you had a very pleasant sleep?" Perhaps she wasn't all that unaware....  
  
Mars looked down at the floor abashedly. "I have a little bit of a headache", she mumbled.   
  
I began walking towards her, Neptune trailing behind me. "We should get going", I said, giving Mars a knowing smile.   
  
"Where's Jupiter?", Mars asked, making a vain attempt to direct attention away from herself.   
  
"I'm sure she's still asleep. You can understand", I answered. The girl nodded and blushed even deeper. Although the situation was more than amusing, I found my stomach tightening up at the thought of the young girls in the arms and under the spells of the handsome Earth generals. I didn't disapprove; with my sexual history, how could I? But I couldn't help but feel uneasy. Something wasn't right about the four men, but it wasn't anything I could easily identify. I just knew that I didn't like it. And I didn't like how close they were to my fellow Senshi. The girls were lambs. Lambs amongst wolves....   
  
************  
  
"Are you ready?"   
  
The beautiful girl next to me adjusted her grip on the leather reins in her hands. "I think so."   
  
"All right. Just remember, the horse will do what you tell it to do as long as you're gentle with it. Keep your feet in the stirrups and your hands on the reins and tell me if you have any trouble", I instructed. Neptune nodded and took a deep breath.   
  
Mars was already out on the trail, several yards ahead of us. She turned her horse around and gave us an impatient look. "Come on!"   
  
I indicated for Neptune to go ahead of me. She gently nudged her horse's side with her boot as I had showed her and the horse began walking. Tapping my own horse's sides, I followed her.   
  
After a few minutes, she twisted her head around and smiled at me. "This is nice", she said.   
  
I returned the smile. "Do you want to move up to a trot? Just tap her sides again...she'll know what to do."   
  
From up ahead, Mars breathed a sigh of relief. "Yes, please...let's trot. Anything to go faster!!"   
  
Neptune pressed her tongue between her lips in determination. Following my instructions carefully, she guided her horse into a trot. I did the same to keep up with her. "You're doing great!", I encouraged her.   
  
"I don't think I like this side-saddle very much", she called out. "Next time, I'm going to ask for a saddle like yours."   
  
I tried to hide the childlike glee in my voice at the thought that she was already planning a next time. "But your riding skirt would be a problem with this kind of saddle", I replied, gesturing to the leather I sat upon.   
  
"So, I'll wear pants." I thought I caught her wink over her shoulder but it might have been my imagination.   
  
"No...pants don't suit you, Neptune." I pulled back on the reins; my horse was like Mars...itching to go faster. "We'll think of something."   
  
She noticed the gesture. "Oh....you two want to go faster, don't you?"   
  
"It's all right, Neptune. We..." She cut me off.   
  
"No, I don't want to slow you down. I think I'm ready...this isn't so hard."   
  
I looked ahead at Mars. She shrugged, indifferently. Her mind wasn't completely with us; for someone who had presumably had a very good night, she was certainly in a foul mood. I almost wished she had stayed in bed with her general. "All right", I agreed. "Cantoring is different than trotting. You're going to have to lean into the horse's neck a little to streamline. The wind could get ahold of you and knock you down."   
  
"No problem", she declared. I watched her curve her back, leaning down closer to her horse's mane. With a tap of her heel, the animal took off. Shaking my head in amusment, I followed.   
  
We continued on at this speed for twenty minutes or so. I could hear Neptune's laughter, carried by the wind. It made me indescribably happy to see that she was having fun. Even Mars began to relax and enjoy herself.   
  
The palace was miles away when the flat moon terrain began to give way to a silver forest. As the strange colored vegetation grew thicker, I pulled my reins sharply. "Whoa!", I called out, signaling to the others to do the same.   
  
Neptune slowed her horse down with all the grace of an experienced rider. Shifting in her saddle, she looked up at the silver canopy of leaves that hung high above our heads. "What an odd forest", she declared. Her hair was windblown; soft tendrils had escaped her jeweled clips and now framed her face.   
  
"These are the Lunar Woods", Mars informed us. "The Queen's great-grandmother Serenity had this planted after her marriage to Prince Naylor of Atarasii."   
  
"Why?", I asked.   
  
Mars' horse stepped forward, then backwards. "Well, Serenity and Naylor could never get a moment alone in the Palace. The Sailor Wars were at a peak and no one would let the Queen go unguarded...ever. So under the guise of beautifying the Moon Kingdom, Serenity had all of this planted. The special seeds she had the gardeners use grew so quickly that she and Naylor were able to escape the Palace every now and then to get lost in here...together." Mars blushed. "They say that's how Serenity's grandmother came to be."   
  
Neptune smiled. "That's so romantic." She guided her horse forward. "It reminds me of my..." She didn't get to finish her sentence. Just then, a white furred rabbit darted out from behind the silver trunk of a tree. Startled, Neptune's horse bucked.   
  
Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. The horse threw its head back and raised its front legs high off the ground, balancing precariously on its hind quarters. The suddeness of the move threw Neptune out of the saddle. She hit the hard silver ground with a sickening thud as her horse bolted into the woods.   
  
"Neptune!", I cried, jumping from my own horse. I ran to her crumpled body. She hadn't been knocked unconcious, I was relieved to see. Gently, I helped her sit up. A small trickle of blood ran down her cheek from a cut on her forehead.   
  
"Are you all right?", Mars frantically asked, getting down from her horse.   
  
The Sea Princess was in pain, but she managed a brave nod. She took ahold of my hand and began to try to stand. But as she put pressure on her right foot, she cried out and fell back into my arms. "My ankle!"  
  
I reached for her leg. As lightly as I could, I pressed my thumbs against the leather boot covering her right ankle. When I pressed on a certain part, she drew in a sharp breath. "I think you might have twisted it", I told her. "We should probably get you back to the Palace physician."   
  
Mars looked around. "Her horse is gone."   
  
"She can ride with me", I replied. I slipped my arm underneath her knees. "Here...put your arm around my..."   
  
She cut me off with a shake of her head. Her eyes were large. "No...I don't want to.." She gave my horse a look of pure fright.   
  
I couldn't blame her. The old adage of getting back on the horse seemed cruel just then. I thought quickly. "Mars, can you ride back to the Palace and have a carriage sent here? I'll stay and ride back with them."   
  
"All right", Mars agreed, swinging herself back up onto her horse. With a click of her heel, she galloped out of the forest. The Princess of Neptune and I were alone.   
  
I left her momentarily to tether my horse to a silver tree, but quickly returned to her side. Without a word, I picked her up and carried her to another, larger tree. I set her down so she could rest her back against the wood, then kneeled next to her. She gingerly touched her ankle, then closed her eyes in pain.   
  
With a linen handkerchief from my pocket, I carefully wiped the blood from her forehead. "I'm so sorry, Neptune", I eventually said.   
  
Her thick, black lashes lifted until she was looking at me again. "Please don't be. This couldn't be futher from your fault."   
  
"I suppose...", I said, non-committally. I wasn't ready to give up the blame; there must have been something I could have done to have protected her.   
  
Neptune smiled, her mouth tight in pain. "I'm a quick healer. You'll see; I'll be back on my feet in a day or so. Of course, Venus might go into hysterics if she doesn't get to lead the entire group soon."   
  
I laughed. "She just might. She's a nice girl though. Just a little..."  
  
"Flaky?", Neptune finished my thought.   
  
"You know me too well", I replied. An awkward pause fell on us. "How is that?", I broke it a minute later. "How can you know me like this after only a day? Less than a day."  
  
Neptune stared at a spot over my left shoulder for several painfully long seconds. "Do you believe in destiny, Uranus?"   
  
"I didn't used to."   
  
She looked down at her lap. "Do you know why it took me so long to arrive here? Why I didn't come with Pluto?" I shook my head. "I was all set to go. But when it came time to board the transport....I just couldn't do it."   
  
"Why?"   
  
"Oh, I had a million reasons." Her gloved hands spread across the blue fabric of her riding skirt. "Ranging from my mother needing me when my newest brother or sister will be born in a few weeks to my violin wasn't tuned." She flashed a brief smile. "The truth, however, is that I was scared."   
  
I blinked. "You? You were scared?"   
  
"The thought of meeting you all seemed so very intimidating. When I met Jupiter last year, she was so...energetic. So alive. She made me feel like the most withdrawn person in the universe. The idea of being surrounded by seven other people who could be the exact same way..." She sighed. "I didn't want to get lost for two months. To be so lonely, you know?"  
  
I swallowed thickly. "Believe me...I do." Hesitantly, I shifted closer to her. "Do you still feel that way?"   
  
Her blue-green locks shook back and forth slowly. "Not since last night. Since I met you."   
  
Neptune's words hung in the air between us. I felt her getting ready to lean forward; to bring her lips to mine. But being the somewhat obtuse person that I am, I spoke again, stopping her. "What were you going to say?" Her brow crinkled in confusion. "Before the horse threw you...you were saying Mars' story reminded you of something. What was it?"   
  
"Oh!" She cleared her throat delicately. "It reminded me of my grandmother, Tangaroa. When she and my Grandfather Triton were still alive, they would drive the Palace guards crazy by swimming to the surface and spending hours alone on the beach, unguarded." A laugh escaped her lips. "I like to do the same every now and then...but not with anyone in particular", she quickly added. "Just by myself."   
  
"It sounds wonderful", I said, truthfully. "Tell me more about Neptune."   
  
She closed her eyes. "I will soon." She felt for my hand, entwining her fingers with mine. "First, there's something I have to say."   
  
I reveled in the feeling of her hand. "All right."   
  
Neptune opened her eyes. "We won't have very much time together", she said in a tone I couldn't read. It wasn't mournful, yet certainly wasn't pleased.   
  
"I know", I found myself agreeing. "Two months...and then we leave here."   
  
"It's more than that. Something is coming....I could see it in the waters back home." She tilted her head to the side and studied me. "Can't you hear it in the wind?"   
  
I wanted to tell her I couldn't. That the restlessness building in me was because of her, having nothing to do with anything unfavorable. Or maybe she really had hit her head too hard and was imagining things. But I couldn't lie. It was in the air all around us. And I had been aware of it for much longer than I cared to admit. "I can."   
  
She nodded. "I don't know if there's anything we can do to stop it. Whatever it is...it's not going to be something we can prepare for. So..."   
  
"So what do we do?" I looked down at our gloved fingers.   
  
"Love each other." Her tone was blunt. I blinked. "There I go again", she scolded herself.   
  
I put the index finger of my other hand against her lips. "No...you're right. You're absolutely right."   
  
"Are you sure?"   
  
It was my turn to nod. "Whatever happens, I don't want it to happen without you by my side." The moment that followed was so intense that I had to look away. Change the subject. Something. "This is crazy, you know?"   
  
"Is it?"   
  
"Maybe 'crazy' is the wrong word", I amended.   
  
She gave a small smile. "What's the right word, then? 'This is...?' It's what?"   
  
"Nice", I said. "It's nice. And..." I stopped.  
  
"And?"  
  
I couldn't wait any longer. Taking her chin in my hand, I guided her lips to mine. Our second kiss was longer. I wanted it to last forever. I never wanted the warm softness of her mouth to leave mine. But eventually, we pulled apart. "Right. It's just right."   
  
She kissed me again. "Yes, it is."   
  
**********  
  
It's painful to commit these words to paper. The things we said to each other that day...I can't write like this anymore. I'm sorry, but I have to skip ahead.   
  
Neptune was right; she was a fast healer, back on her feet in two days. And finally, Venus got her wish and the Sailor Senshi began our training. From the start, Neptune impressed me. Her attacks were steady, her power never wavered. She was in complete control of her element at all times and she possessed a gift for strategy that rivaled even mine. I soon realized that was a benefit of teamwork; our resources were pooled together. It was a hard lesson to learn but as the days passed, I learned it. Alone, I was strong. With the others, I was indefatigable.   
  
But with just Neptune, I was myself. I didn't have to be a Princess. I didn't have to be a Senshi. I didn't have to pretend and I didn't have to hide anything. She let me be me. And in turn, I let her be her. We made no attempt to hide our growing romance, not that we could have even if we had tried. It was in our eyes every time we looked at each other, in our voices every time we spoke to each other. Even a blind, deaf and mute person could have sensed that we were falling in love.   
  
Endymion left the Moon after two weeks, a week longer than he had intended to stay. And he took his generals with him. I was relieved to see them go. Not that I wished lonliness upon the Inner Senshi, but the more I came to know the four men, the less I wanted them around. I didn't like the way they looked at the Princesses and I certainly didn't like fact that all four girls eventually allowed one into their beds. Even Mercury, the last one I would have expected to do that sort of thing. A part of me felt more sorry for Endymion than anyone else, though. The Court could turn a blind eye to the actions of the Princesses of other planets, but not to the nocturnal activities of the heir to the throne of the Moon Kingdom. Endymion spent every night he was with us in his own lonely bed, far down the hall from Serenity.   
  
We continued training after the men left. Days passed and with Neptune by my side, I relaxed into the routine of life in the Moon Palace. I was becoming fast friends with all the girls, especially Jupiter and Pluto. My connection to Saturn also grew, although it never really seemed like she was one of the Senshi group. She never trained with us and from what I gathered, never would. On the surface, it didn't seem to phase her. But I think, deep down, she wondered why she was a Princess and a Senshi if her destiny was to never use her powers.   
  
The training and my friendships with the other girls were important to me, but Neptune was the only one who made me truly happy. Happier than I had ever been in my entire life. We were in love. With that love came passion. And one night, after a particurally long day of training, we found ourselves alone in Neptune's room.   
  
I won't go into too much detail about that night or the nights that followed. For starters, I don't have a lot of time and far too much left to write. But more than that, I'm not entirely sure I want to share that part of our relationship with anyone. Suffice it to say that after that night, our bond was unbreakable. We were one...mind, body and soul. And I found what had been missing with those other two lovers. Love.   
  
**********  
  
To Be Continued.... 


	4. A Stately Pleasure Part IV

**********  
  
I'm afraid my story takes a downward spiral from here. Neptune and I should have seen it all coming...or paid more attention to it, anyways. But we were imersed in each other and the novelty of being in love and being loved. So, it snuck up on us, caught us off guard. If only we could have...no. Even as I begin that sentence I know it's not right. It wouldn't have mattered how ready we were. Nothing could have prepared us for what lay ahead.   
  
Everything started on one sunny afternoon, a little over a month into our training time. After a strangely solitary lunch, Neptune and I were walking across the ballroom, heading for the privacy of either my room or hers. Our hands were clasped together; right now, I would give anything to feel her fingers entwined with mine. I took it for granted...one of the many things I took for granted at the time and now, lament.   
  
We were starting up the staircase, when Neptune stopped suddenly.   
  
"Everything all right?", I asked, moving back down a step to be at her level.   
  
Her smooth forehead was crinkled; it was the look she had when in deep thought. "Do you hear something?"  
  
It only took a second of concious listening before I did. Somewhere nearby, someone was crying. "I think it might be coming from the Moon Garden", I guessed.   
  
We didn't have to say anything more. Together, we backed up and made our way under the staircase, through the salarium and into the garden to investigate.   
  
As soon as we were inside the glass enclosement, Neptune put her free hand to her mouth. "Oh dear."   
  
On the island, Venus lay curled up under a tree. Her fire colored dress spread across the grass; her shoulders shook under the weight of her sobs. She didn't hear us cross the bridge, or if she did, didn't pay attention to it. As soon as we were across, Neptune kneeled down next to the despondent girl.   
  
"Venus", she said softly. "Venus...what's wrong?"   
  
The Princess of Venus slowly lifted her blond head. Her eyes were red and puffy, indicating that she had been crying for quite sometime. She didn't say anything in reply, just continued to sob. Neptune gently put her arms around the girl and pulled her into an embrace. "It's all right, Venus. Whatever it is...it'll be all right."   
  
I joined them on the ground. "You can tell us", I said awkwardly. These heavy emotional moments weren't my forte; Neptune was much more suited to help the girl. Still, I couldn't just stand by and watch Venus in such obvious pain.   
  
She buried her face in my lover's aquamarine hair. "It's Kunzite", she said between sobs. Her voice was muffled.   
  
Instinctively, my fist balled up. Neptune noticed and raised an eyebrow at me. "What about him?", I asked as calmly as possible.   
  
"He..." She hiccuped. "He's vanished!"   
  
Neptune cupped her hand around the back of Venus' neck and lifted the girl off her shoulder. "What do you mean, he's vanished?"   
  
"He's gone", Venus restated. Another sob racked her body. "I don't know where...but it's been a week. I've written him every day. And..." Tears welled up anew. "He's not written back once!"   
  
"Venus...dear", Neptune smiled and tucked a wayward lock of gold hair behind Venus' ear. "He's a very busy man...he and the other generals. I'm sure he's thinking about you and wishes he could write, but..."  
  
Venus cut her off with a shake of her head. "No. You don't understand. They're all gone. Jaedite, Nephrite, Zoisite...Kunzite. They're gone"   
  
I was confused. "Are they on some sort of mission? A field assignment?"   
  
"No...Endymion doesn't know where they are either", she informed me. Her forehead lowered to Neptune's shoulder again. "Oh gods...what if something's happened to them? What if they're stranded on some planet or something, waiting for help? They could be starving to death or...I don't know what else. And we just don't know!!"   
  
"Wait." I scratched my temple, confusion growing. "Endymion doesn't know where his generals are? How is that possible?"   
  
Neptune stroked Venus' hair soothingly. "If they were sent on an assignment and got stranded, it should be fairly easy to find them."   
  
"That's just it." Venus sat back up. "There was no assignment."  
  
"At least not one that anyone knows about." It was Jupiter's voice, approaching us from behind. I turned to see her walk across the bridge. There was no life in her step and she drew closer, I could see no warmth in her eyes. She looked, in some ways, worse off than Venus.   
  
"How long has this been going on?", I asked. "And how come we haven't heard anything about it?"   
  
Jupiter shrugged and crossed her arms over the bodice of her pink dress. "We wanted to wait, at least I did, to make sure it was anything to get upset about. When Nephrite stopped writing, I just thought he was busy. But then today..." She looked up at the glass ceiling. "When Endymion sent a message asking if we knew where they might be..."   
  
"We couldn't ignore it any longer." Mercury entered the Moon Garden quietly.   
  
I thought quickly. "Have you talked to Pluto? Maybe she has some idea of what's going on."   
  
Mercury shook her head. "We can't ask her that. For her to tell us would be a gross infraction of the rules of Time. Something that could cost her her life."   
  
"Endymion has sent out a search party", Jupiter said dully. "But it's a big universe."   
  
"We'll just have to wait", Venus continued. She covered her face with one hand. "And hope that they come back to us." Neptune embraced her again.   
  
I stood up. "Where's Mars?"   
  
"She locked herself in her room", Mercury answered. "Serenity's trying to get her to come out, but so far, no luck."   
  
I exchanged a sorrowful look with Neptune. It didn't seem as though there was anything we could do to help the girls. Anger built up inside of me. It was mainly directed at the absent generals...the four men who held my friends hearts in their hands. But a little of that anger was directed at myself. I put the responsibility of keeping the girls safe onto my own shoulders. And it looked as though I had failed them.   
  
Neptune, ever the mystic, felt what I was was thinking. She looked up at me for a long moment, then slowly shook her head as if to say, don't. Don't do that. My shoulders relaxed a bit, but the anger didn't dissipate entirely.   
  
And it wouldn't, I soon realized. Another day slipped by with no word from or news about the missing generals. Mars did eventually rejoin the world, but she might as well have stayed locked up in her room. She was withdrawn, sullen and non-communicative. It seemed to hit her worse than the other girls, but she refused to talk about it with anyone, even Serenity.   
  
A few more days passed and nothing changed. Endymion joined us at the end of the week, but only for a day. He was, understandably, in a panic. With his generals gone, the Earth was vulnerable to attack. It seemed unlikely that it would be, but one never knew. Queen Serenity promised the Prince that should the unthinkable happen, the Moon's army would be at his disposal, and that seemed to reassure him. I got the feeling that it wasn't so much the vulnerability of his planet that upset Endymion, but the loss of his closest friends. The search party had turned up nothing in our solar system.   
  
When a week had passed, things seemed to return to normal. After all, what could we do? Life couldn't just come to a screeching halt. Queen Serenity gently, the only way she did things, urged us to return to our training. But something had gone out of each of the four Inner Senshi. I tried to imagine how I would feel if I were in their position, if Neptune just disappeared one day. The mere thought created a huge, gaping hole in my heart. My patience with the Inner Senshi was abundant after that.   
  
**********  
  
Another week went by. Our time together was coming to a close. I didn't want to think about it, but Neptune, being both the sense and the sensibility in our relationship, needed to know what would happen after our last week together.   
  
We were lying in my bed on our one day off from training when she brought it up. "You know...next week is our last week here", she began the hateful conversation. She was nestled in the crook of my arm, holding my hand in hers. She ran her index finger over my palm, creating invisible designs on the flesh.   
  
I sighed. "Do we have to think about this now?"   
  
She set my hand back onto her stomach. "It's not going to go away if we don't think about it."   
  
"I don't know", I kissed her hair. "It might."   
  
Neptune laughed for a brief moment, then grew quiet. "What are we going to do?"   
  
"Run away to some planet that has ocean and open ground?", I suggested. "Let's see...that'd be..."  
  
"Earth", she supplied. "And I'm trying to be serious here."   
  
"Why do you think I'm trying not to be?"   
  
She sat up, clutching the sheet to her chest. "So, we should wait until we're both about to board seperate transports bound for two different planets before we bring this up again?"   
  
I put my arms around her and laid my cheek against her bare back. "I'm sorry. I just..." I stopped, not trusting my voice. "I can't imagine being apart from you."   
  
"It hurts, I know." She twisted her body around. I lifted my head so that we were face to face. "I don't want to be without you either. But what can we do?"   
  
"Write every day? Transport back and forth every weekend?"   
  
She smiled. "You'll have to learn to swim if you want to get into Benten-san Palace. It's underwater, remember."   
  
"And you'll have to...." I thought for a moment. "Nothing. You don't have to do anything to come see me." I traced the perfect line of her lips with my finger. "Just show up. Anytime. I'll be waiting for you."   
  
Her eyes closed as she gave me a soft kiss. "I love you."   
  
"I love you, too."   
  
********  
  
I don't know why I'm doing this to myself. It would be much easier to tell this story without including these things, these moments we shared together. I don't know...maybe I don't want to forget. A silly thought; I don't have enough time left *to* forget, after all. But maybe I don't want you to see me or Neptune or anyone in this story as a name. A title. I want you to see that we were people with real lives. It will make you understand just how devasting it was when it was all ripped away from us.   
  
Queen Serenity announced that in honor of our final week of training together, she was going to throw us a ball. Unlike the ball seven weeks earlier, this ball was to be entirely in our honor. Preparations were in full swing by the middle of the week and Neptune was in a quandry.   
  
"The lavender dress or the silver?"   
  
I was sprawled across the aquamarine brocaded silk cover on her bed, watching her dig through her seemingly limitless wardrobe, searching for the perfect dress. I had no idea how she had amassed such a huge amount of clothing in a mere seventeen years of existence or why she had felt the need to bring it all with her to the Moon, but every piece was thrown about her room as she continued her search.   
  
"Didn't you wear the grey one to dinner when Mercury's mother and father visited?", I asked.   
  
Her head peeked out from the closet door. "Silver. And you remember what I was wearing that night?"   
  
I sat up and crossed my legs. "Well...it was pretty low cut..." A corset cover came flying at me from the general direction of the closet. I caught it before it landed. "I hope this is the one you put on today..."   
  
She stepped out from the closet, wrapped up in a sheer, navy blue pegnior. She had taken her hair down and it flowed around her shoulders. The two blues were in perfect contrast. I smiled appreciatively. Neptune had been holding the pegnoir closed at her chest, but now let it go, exposing the pure, white curve of her breast. "Come here", she beckoned, crooking her index finger.   
  
I shook my head as I reached for the top button of my shirt. "You come here."   
  
It was fortunate that the door swung open just then. Even a minute later and it would have been a far more embarassing situation. Jupiter stood in the doorway, a look of panic in her deep green eyes. Neptune quickly brought her robe together and I jumped up from the bed. "Jupiter?" Her hand grasped the door's frame as though she needed the support to remain standing. "What is it?", I asked. A ball of fear formed in my stomach.   
  
Jupiter looked at Neptune, then back at me. "Oh god...I interrupted something, didn't I?"   
  
Neptune crossed her arms to cover her practically nude body. "It's all right, Jupiter. Just tell us what's going on. Is it the generals? Have they been found?"   
  
"No." Jupiter paused for a second. "We've lost all contact with Narisah."  
  
Narisah was the most remote colony of our solar system, lying many light years futher out than Pluto. The star's only inhabitants were a hermitous sect of monks, but they were our most important link to our neighboring solar systems.   
  
"Lost contact?", Neptune repeated. Her eyes were wide, with good reason. As Outer Senshi we knew that if something were to invade our system, the first warning sign would come from Narisah. "Lost contact..."  
  
Jupiter nodded. "They missed their weekly communication and when the Queen tried to establish contact, she recieved no reply. She thought it might be our communicator, but she didn't have any trouble contacting Pluto."  
  
"Why are we always the last ones to know about things like this?" I ran a hand through my hair in frustration.   
  
"Well..." Jupiter looked at Neptune, then looked back to me again. "It could be nothing. The monks could be in a period of silence. Or their communicator could be broken."   
  
It was possible. But I don't think any of us believed it. "So...what does the Queen want us to do?", I asked, holding back a rising lump in my throat. "Does she want Neptune, Pluto and I to return to our planets and prepare for...whatever?"   
  
"Actually, she wants you all to stay here." A small smile appeared on Jupiter's lips, the first I could remember seeing there in a long time. It disppeared as she continued. "After all...we'll all be parting anyways in a few days."   
  
Neptune looked down at the sea colored rug. "That we will", she whispered.   
  
There was a pause. "I'm going to go now", Jupiter said abruptly. "Carry on you two." She flashed another, sadder smile. "We're all so very glad that you two...you know, have each other. It doesn't make us feel quite so..." She stopped. "I don't know. See you at dinner." With that, she closed the door and we were alone again.   
  
"If you were going to invade a solar system, what's the first thing you would do?", I asked after a long moment of silence.   
  
She sighed. "I'd conquer their out-lying, defenseless star as a warning."   
  
"It was in the water and it was in the wind. And now it's here." I sat on the edge of the bed and stared at her dressing table. "But what is it?"   
  
I felt her sit beside me; her arms wrapped around my torso as she rested her chin on my shoulder. "What was your philosophy? If you don't think about it, it might go away?"   
  
"Neptune, this is serious and you know it."   
  
"Why do you think I'm trying not to be?"  
  
I lifted my arms to return the embrace, but didn't reply.   
  
We were silent for a moment as we held each other. "Well, if Queen Serenity isn't worried, why should we be?", Neptune finally asked. "We worry too much, Uranus."   
  
I found myself smiling. "It's our responsibility to."   
  
"How about giving responsibility a rest for awhile and just enjoying our last few days together?", she innocently suggested.   
  
"You could do that?"   
  
"No", she admitted. "But I could pretend to. For the sake of the others. They have enough to worry about"   
  
"True." I was suddenly so very tired. Lifting my bare feet up onto the bed, I let go of Neptune and lowered my head until it rested in her lap. As I lay there, my knees drawn up to my chest like a child, she gently stroked the hair on my temple. "Don't you ever get tired of being right?", I asked.   
  
She laughed softly and bent over to kiss my cheek. Her sweet smelling hair tickled my nose. "Go to sleep, darling. And don't worry about anything." I was already half-asleep, so I could have imagined her next words. "I'll always protect you."   
  
**********  



	5. 

**********  
  
The night of the ball was cold, but clear. I stood on the tiny balcony that my room boasted, looking up at the sky. It seemed as though every star in the galaxy was visible. I quickly found the constellation of Pisces; Neptune had taught me how. It was comforting to look at it and to know that, no matter what, it would always be there.   
  
A frigid wind swept over me. Shivering, I stepped back into my room and closed the glass doors. Neptune was in her own room across the hall getting dressed. She liked to do that, to make me wait until she was convinced she looked her best. Of course, I was convinced that she *always* looked her best.   
  
I smiled as I pulled on the jacket of my dress uniform. The same uniform I had given up in favor of that dress two months earlier. I surprised myself. Two months ago I had just wanted to blend in and be forgotten. But now that I had Neptune, I didn't care about all of that. I wanted to be myself. She had such an effect on me; I am who I am right now because of her.   
  
I gave myself a satisfactory glance in the dressing table mirror. Navy blue, kid-skin breeches hugged my lower body, ending in black leather boots. The uniform coat was open, but gold buttons stamped with the symbol of the Court of Uranus ran up one side. A white silk shirt lay underneath it, a full doublet at my throat. The coat belonged to my youngest brother and was, as a result, a size too small. It clung to my breasts and waist a little more than I would have liked, but that couldn't be helped. I combed my fingers through my hair and brushed off the long sleeves of the coat. It was time to go pick up my Princess.   
  
She answered on the first knock and in that same second, took my breath away. After days of agonzing, she had finally decided on the lavender dress. It, too, was low cut, I couldn't help but notice. The skirt was full, with a tasteful ruffle around the hem. Its sleeves were puffed. Her hair was parted in the middle and pulled to either side; lavender roses accented each side.   
  
"You look beautiful", was all I could think to say.   
  
Neptune curtsied. "And you look far more comfortable than the first time we met."   
  
I bent my arm and offered it to her. She delicately placed her hand in the crook of my elbow. That was how we walked down the crystal stairs together. And this time, everyone *was* looking at me. And I didn't give a damn.   
  
***********  
  
It all happened at the ball.   
  
The evening started out like a dream. I had Neptune on my arm; everything was perfect. We danced every waltz, unconcious of the people around us. If we had looked though, we would have only seen appreciation in their eyes and perhaps a twinge of envy. We had something that was rare. Even I wasn't obtuse enough to be unaware of that. The only couple recieving more stares than us were Serenity and Endymion, who seemed to be caught up in their own private world as they danced under the stars.   
  
But despite my overall sense of euphoria, there was an undercurrent of sadness in the air. Mercury, Mars, Jupiter and Venus were all present; the ball was, after all, partly in their honor. They stood in a small group on the side of the dance floor. Every now and then, a courtier or ambassador would come up to them, presumably asking for the honor of a dance. But every man walked away alone.   
  
After awhile, Pluto approached them, Saturn by her side. The older woman spoke for a few minutes and after the Outer Senshi departed again, the girls looked much more relaxed. Color returned to their pale cheeks and they dispersed, each in search of a dance partner. I wondered what the Guardian of Time had said to them. Whatever it was, it had been the right thing to do.   
  
"Look", I pointed to Mercury across the ballroom as she accepted a dance with the Ambassador of Balanis.   
  
The corners of Neptune's lips turned up. "I hope wherever they are, the generals know what they're missing."   
  
I nodded. "They didn't deserve our girls anyways."   
  
Neptune threw her head back and laughed, lightly poking the flesh between my breasts. "So...there really is a 'mother' in there somewhere."   
  
"Shh..." I gave her a look of mock secrecy. "Don't tell anyone."   
  
She brought her lips up to my ear. "Your secret is safe with me, love."   
  
********  
  
"Her Supreme Majesty, Queen Serenity of the Moon Kingdom!" The guard in his gilded livery stepped to the side and bowed deeply as our Queen appeared at the very top of the crystal stairs.   
  
Have I told you about our Queen? I know I have mentioned her several times, but have I ever really described her? Let me take a minute to. Queen Serenity was...well, try to imagine the most beautiful woman you have ever seen, then imagine her being graceful, elegant, calming and kind. Then you will have pictured our Queen. I had only spoken to her alone on two different occasions in the two months I had been living in her home, but each time I had walked away from the conversation feeling more at peace with myself than even Neptune could make me feel. When I became a Sailor Senshi at fifteen years old, I had taken a vow to protect this woman because it was required of me. Now I knew that I would do anything in my power to protect her because she had earned my love and respect.   
  
She slowly descended the stairs like an angel coming down from the heavens to bless the mortals. When she had reached the last landing before the ballroom floor, she looked down at us, her Sailor Senshi. With a smile, she outstretched her hand, beckoning us to join her on the stairs. Serenity and Endymion went first, arm in arm. They each took a place on either side of her mother, one step below. Mercury and Mars followed, then Jupiter and Venus. I looked at Neptune before offering her my hand. We joined them on the stairs, a step lower than the Inner Senshi. Saturn and Pluto came last, standing a little below us. We faced the people of our star system.  
  
"Our Senshi", the Queen announced, putting a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "These are the eight women whom I have chosen to protect us all. Not too long ago, several of them were just names to me." She looked down at us. Warmth emenated from her smile. "But now I have the honor of really knowing them. And I can honestly say, you won't find more wonderful women than they. Please..." The Queen looked back at her people. "Join me in thanking them."   
  
Applause began, so loud that it drowned out anything else in my ears. The response from the people was overwhelming. I had to touch Neptune's hand to remind myself of where I was. Her fingers squeezed mine, letting me know that she was right there with me.   
  
Collectively, we bowed to the people. Each of us turned slightly and bowed at the Queen. She lowered her head briefly and touched her heart. I swallowed heavily. It was a moment of pure approval, the greatest singular moment of my entire life. I was honored by a kingdom, respected by a Queen and loved by the woman at my side. I thought, at that moment, that nothing could possibly put an end to that happiness.   
  
And that's when it happened. The bottom dropped out. Well, actually, it was the ceiling.   
  
High above our heads, the crystal dome was the first thing to go. With a horrific crash, shards and broken panes of glass began to fall. A state of instant panic gripped the crowd as they clammored for safety. My arm instinctively went around Neptune's shoulder, pulling her against my own body. Pluto did the same, using her body to shield little Saturn as we made a collective dash for the safety of the second flight of stairs. Endymion was already there; his cape providing shelter for the Queen and the Princess.   
  
"What's going on?", I heard Venus ask over the cries of the people in the ballroom. Most of the guests had managed to make it to the safety of the overlapping balconies, but some unfortunate souls had been struck with the falling glass. I closed my eyes and sensed Neptune do the same.   
  
"Those poor people...", she whispered.   
  
"Are we under attack?", I asked the Queen as though she had the answer.   
  
The answer I sought didn't come from her however. Just then, a long, langorious laugh filled the air of the ballroom. In the very center of the floor, a figure began to materialize. A woman. "People of the Moon Kingdom....thank you for inviting me to your party", she said in a terribly silken voice. Even from a distance, I could make out her features. She had impossibly long orange colored hair, but her skin was a sickening shade of lavender. Her dress was as black as coal. Behind her, four more figures began to appear. Four men. Four tall men in uniforms. "Thank you for inviting us all."   
  
I heard gasps behind me. Jupiter put a hand to her mouth, her green eyes wide. "No...", was all she could say.   
  
Endymion stepped forward and addressed the painfully familiar figures. "Jaedite. Zoisite. Kunzite. Nephrite." There was confusion in his voice. And mounting dread. "Explain all of this", he ordered.   
  
The generals were silent. Princess Serenity put a small hand on Endymion's arm in comfort.   
  
Queen Serenity looked down at the strange intruder. "Who are you and by what right do you come here like this?"   
  
"Queen Serenity...." The woman's gaze roamed over us all before settling on the Queen. There was evil in her eyes; I found myself recoiling from it. "Sovreign of the Silver Millenium." Her stare hardened. "Sovreign no longer!! I am Queen Beryl of the Negaverse....I have come to conquer!!"   
  
It was all we needed to hear. I looked at the other girls, seeing the same thought reflected in their eyes. Even the Inner Senshi managed to momentarily set aside the momentous problems that faced them. It was time to put our training and powers to the ultimate test.   
  
"Mercury Crystal Power...."  
  
"Mars Crystal Power...."  
  
"Jupiter Crystal Power...."  
  
"Venus Crystal Power...."  
  
"Uranus Crystal Power...."  
  
"Neptune Crystal Power...."  
  
"Pluto Crystal Power...."  
  
"MAKE......UP!!!!!"  
  
The seconds it took for my fuku to replace my clothes and form around my body seemed eternal. But finally, I stood as Sailor Uranus, surrounded by my fellow Senshi.   
  
"We are the Sailor Senshi of the Silver Millenium", Pluto announced.   
  
"Your presence is not welcome here", Neptune said coldly.  
  
"The pain you have inflicted on our people....", Mercury began, swallowing heavily as she looked down at the bodies.  
  
"The things you have done to our Kingdom...", Mars shakily continued.  
  
I narrowed my eyes. "And the threat you present to our Queen...."  
  
"Will not be forgiven", Jupiter finished. There was pain in her voice. Her words were directed to one man and one man only.   
  
Venus stepped up. "In the name of the Moon..."  
  
"We shall punish you!!" My voice blended with the other girls.   
  
Our words elicited laughter from the replusive woman. "Work a little harder on that and you may just convince me." The smile on her lips died. "Don't challenge me, little girls."  
  
I scowled and prepared to charge, but Neptune's gloved hand gripped my arm, holding me back. My fist tightened with repressed anger, but relaxed when I saw why she had done so. Behind Beryl, behind the generals, the Captain of the Moon's Army was leading several of his soldiers into a surprise attack formation. I had a bad feeling about it....  
  
Beryl didn't even turn around. With one hand thrust behind her hip, she blasted the men with a lethal beam of energy. The generals took over, finishing off the Captain's men in seconds with their swords. We watched in shocked silence as the men went down one by one.   
  
It was too much for Venus to take. Every muscle in her body was taught; even her blond hair seemed on edge. She cried out as her former lover swung his blade, striking down one uniformed boy. "VENUS LOVE AND BEAUTY SHOCK!!", she shouted, sending a deadly kiss hurtling towards Kunzite. With a laugh, Beryl disappeared. The blast exploded around the generals. Quickly, Venus turned back to us. "Let's nip this in the bud, shall we?" Venus looked at Pluto. "Can you....?" Her eyes darted to the Queen.   
  
Pluto nodded. She looked down at Saturn expectantly, but the little girl shook her head. She was going to stay where she was. Without a word, Pluto walked up the stairs and began to lead the Queen away. On the ballroom floor, the generals had begun to bounce back from Venus' attack. They looked up at us with nothing but pure malice in their eyes. And the girls could see it.   
  
"Endymion....protect our Princess", Jupiter asked, never straying her hard gaze from the auburn haired man below. I looked at her for a brief second; the antenna in her tiara was rising. It crackled with electricity. Bending her knees, she leaped off the stairs, landing on the ballroom floor a second later. Her hands reached up to her forehead, collecting the electric energy between her palms. "SPARKLING WIDE....PRESSURE!!" Jupiter hurled the lightning at Nephrite. The man leaped into the air with frightening strength, sword held high over his head.   
  
A flash of blue. A burst of crimson. The Senshi of Mercury screamed in pain as Nephrite's sword slammed down onto her shoulder.   
  
"Mercury!!!", Jupiter cried out. The blue haired girl had pushed her out of the way. And taken the blade meant for her. As Mercury stumbled to the ground, Jupiter looked up at her auburn haired lover. Hate flooded her own eyes. "You're going to die for that", she hissed.   
  
The battle had begun. With one Senshi down, it was up to the rest of us to protect our Kingdom and our monarchs. The people had fled. It was six against four. Five against four. Forgive me. My memories of the next few minutes are so blurred. I want to walk you through every moment. But I was in the midst of a war. I thought and acted like a senshi. I paid attention to my attacks and my strategies. It was as though all the teamwork I had been forced to learn flew out of my mind. It was me alone in my mission.   
  
Until Neptune grabbed my hand. Her arm was cut; I wondered how...which general had gotten close enough to hurt her. "Uranus...the princess...." She took a deep breath and pointed to the balcony across the ballroom. "Beryl...has the princess..."  
  
I took off running. But when I reached the balcony....I was too late. I'm sure this is the part you read in your history books. How Beryl found herself attracted to Endymion and tried to take him. And how he and Serenity went down fighting the witch. I do not know what transpired between the three of them on that balcony. I don't believe Beryl came to our Kingdom solely for the love of a mortal man. All I know is that three people were on that balcony. And only one survived.   
  
The orange haired bitch disappeared, triumphant, as I knelt next to the fallen body of our princess. Blood was slowing turning Serenity's white and silver gown a deep red. It soaked her blond ponytails. There was nothing I could do for her. She saw me over her; her tiny hand reached for mine. Her fingers squeezed lightly. And then she was gone.   
  
Endymion lay a few feet away from his fallen princess, in a rapidly spreading pool of blood. I was torn...wanting to stay near my princess, but feeling that I should not leave the man she loved alone as he died. His chest rose and fell with weakening breath.   
  
"Serenity...", he whispered. I took his hand and mumbled something. Words of comfort. I wish I could remember. His final breath was used whispering, "I love you....Serenity..."   
  
"VENUS LOVE ME CHAIN!!!"   
  
I swung my head around. Right behind me, sword raised, was Kunzite. His former lover's heart-shaped chain of energy was wrapped around his upper chest, keeping him from advancing on my turned back. At the other end of the chain, a dead-eyed, coldly powerful Venus stood. She yanked on the chain, pulling Kunzite back towards her.   
  
It was the only careless mistake I had ever seen her make. It would prove to be her last.   
  
He came flying towards her, sword pointed. She did not have time to sidestep the blade before it slid into her stomach. Kunzite laughed as she hung, suspended in mid-air by his sword. Her blood dripped down the metal. I watched with numb eyes as the linked hearts of energy around Kunzite's chest began to fade as Venus slowly died. When the chain vanished completely, Kunzite let her body slide to the floor.   
  
The white haired general looked at me and licked a spot of his lover's blood from his thumb. He blew me a kiss. My tear-flooded eyes narrowed dangerously; I was unable to comprehend, much less control the anguish building up inside me with each death I was witness to. My desire to lash out with my own powers was usurped as a terrific bolt of lightning struck Kunzite. When the electric surge had passed through his body, he fell to the bloodied marble floor. Jupiter stood a few feet away, the antenna in her tiara lowering, her eyes as wet as mine.   
  
Together we watched him die. But before the breath left him completely, the image of Beryl appeared over his body. With a snap of her fingers, she dematerialized, taking him with her. Jupiter ran to the spot where he had laid.   
  
"Damn you to hell!!", she screamed, pounding the floor.  
  
"We're already there", a voice over her said calmly. She turned her head to see her own lover, auburn hair flowing, standing over her with a satisfactory look on his face. Blood colored the corner of his lip.   
  
She attacked him with everything she had. Kicking, punching, slapping. Nephrite matched her blow for blow. Why was I frozen to the spot? Why couldn't I move? I hate myself as I remember how helpless I was in those few minutes.   
  
The final blow he delivered across the side of her face spun her body around with its force. She shook her head, trying to recover, but before she could, Nephrite found Kunzite's abandoned sword. Completely without mercy, he advanced on the tall brunette who had given him her body and her heart. I hope she was too disoriented to feel the sword enter her breast. I hope she couldn't feel herself die; feel the pillar against her back as he tossed her broken body aside.  
  
"MARS FLAME SNIPER!"   
  
The arrow of fire landed directly in Nephrite's chest. If he had a heart, I hoped that's what it had hit. He faltered and fell....but again, before he could die, his Queen appeared to take him away.   
  
Someone grabbed my wrist. Neptune. "Everyone's dying", she whispered as though it were a great secret. Her hands were bloody. I looked down at them, then back up at her deep blue eyes. "Zoisite", she answered my unspoken question.  
  
Mars looked back at us. "It was supposed to be this way", she said, numbly. "It was all supposed to be this way."  
  
"What do you mean?", I asked lowly. "Mars..."  
  
She never got a chance to answer me. Her eyes grew wide; the metal tip of a sword suddenly appeared through her right side. A figure loomed behind her. Jaedite. He pulled his sword back out; blood exploded over the front of Mars' fuku.   
  
"No..no..no..." It was too much for me. Another friend fallen and me powerless to do anything about it.   
  
Jaedite laughed cruelly. His arm wrapped around Mars' body before it could slip to the ground. His lips found her neck through her long dark hair. "Was it good for you?", he whispered.  
  
"Leave her alone!" We all turned to see little Saturn. I blinked. She was clad in the fuku of a Sailor Senshi. In her hand was a long scythe; she turned it in her hands and pointed it at Jaedite.   
  
He shook his head. "Go back to the nursery, little sailor girl." His bloody fingers wound into Mars' hair.   
  
I looked at Saturn. Her violet eyes were lifeless. I could feel her power, cold and deadly.   
  
It frightened me.  
  
"Do not make me use my power", she said calmly.   
  
Jaedite smirked. "What power?"   
  
There was a voice in my head. Saturn's. I closed my eyes, listening. Listening to what she wanted me to do. Taking a breath, I acted, never stopping to thinking. Sprinting forward, I ran past Jaedite, catching Mars in my arms and pulling her out of harm's way.   
  
"I have no wish to end my life. But if it will save my friends, I will not hesitate." Saturn did not blink as she stared down the taller man.   
  
"You can't save your friends", Jaedite told her confidantly. "As she said..." He gestured to Mars; I held her tighter. "...it was all supposed to be this way."  
  
Saturn blinked. It was the only opportunity Jaedite needed. Advancing foward, he grabbed Saturn's scythe, turning it on the little girl. She took the blade as Jupiter had: quietly.   
  
Neptune screamed. I could feel her power rising. Her arms lifted over her head, gathering the energy of the ocean. "DEEP SUBMERGE!!!"  
  
The blast knocked Jaedite back. It was not a fatal blow, but it did enough. He lay on the ground, unmoving. Neptune reached for Saturn's body; I knew instinctively that it was too late.  
  
"Uranus..." Mars' voice was broken; blood flowed from the corner of her mouth. I looked down at her. Jaedite's sword had been merciless; the gruesome wound in her right side was draining her life away.   
  
"Shh...it's all right", I said, as comfortingly as possible. "It's going to be all right, Mars."   
  
She tried to sit up, but the pain was too much. Crying out, she fell back against me. "How's...Saturn?", she managed to ask when the pain had subsided a bit.   
  
I glanced across the balcony to where Neptune knelt, holding the lifeless body of the Princess of Saturn. "She's fine", I lied. Tears and sweat stung my eyes. "Everyone is...fine."   
  
"Everyone is dead", Mars whispered, closing her eyes. "And I...I saw it all, Uranus. I saw it all." She weakly touched the wound in her side and brought her blood stained glove up to where she could see it. "The night of the ball...the first ball..."  
  
"You don't have to talk, Mars", I said. I wasn't sure I wanted to hear what she was going to say next.  
  
Mars shook her head. "I...have to. That night...after Jaedite and I...after we made...love..." A sob tore through her throat. "I had a vision. I saw this...all of this."   
  
I blinked. "You were so...upset that morning....", I whispered. My head dropped lower as realization settled in. "There wasn't anything we could have done to stop this, was there?"   
  
"No", she replied. Her eyes were slowly closing. "I'm sorry...Uranus. I'm so sorry..." Her body relaxed as the life went out of it.   
  
"God..." I squeezed my eyes shut. "Goodbye Mars."   
  
I had no time to think about the fact that my friend was dead. From across the balcony, Neptune cried out.   
  
"Uranus!! Behind you!!"   
  
On pure instinct, I shot to my feet and spun around. Jaedite was approaching me from behind, having recovered from Neptune's attack. He held his sword, still covered with Mars' blood, at his side. "Sailor Uranus", he smiled at me.   
  
"Only cowards attack from behind *General* Jaedite", I said, raising my fists. "I would have thought your time on Earth would have taught you better."   
  
He laughed as he twisted the sword's handle, grinding the tip of the blade into the marble floor. "What my time on Earth taught me...taught all of us....was to watch our backs. You should learn the same." He lifted his sword and lunged at me. I easily side-stepped the blade, moving out of striking distance.   
  
"You're a goddamned traitor", I hissed. "You all are. You abandoned your people, you betrayed your Prince and you slaughtered the women who loved you. For what? For Beryl?"   
  
"Beryl?" His laughter shook his body. "You think we did this for Beryl?"   
  
I was momentarily speechless. "Why else?", I finally asked.   
  
"Because..." Jaedite bent his knees and raised his sword with one hand over his head, preparing to attack. "We could." With a cry, he lunged for me once more. As the blade came closer, I stepped away again, catching the handle as it passed through the air next to my stomach. Grasping onto the metal, I wrenched it out of Jaedite's hand. My other fist slammed into his jaw as the heel of my boot pushed him forward. Jaedite stumbled but managed to catch himself before he toppeled over. It only took him a moment to recover. He turned to face me, anger flashing in his eyes.   
  
I pointed his own sword at him. "Go back to your Queen. And tell her that this won't be over until I personally send this sword straight through her lifeless heart."   
  
Jaedite wiped blood off his chin with the back of his hand. "You'll never win, you know." He looked over at Neptune. "You two can't possibly hope to take out the entire Negaverse."   
  
"Maybe not", I replied. My voice sounded cold even to my own ears. "But I have watched too many people die today. And someone's going to pay for it." I lowered the sword. "The next time this blade is the only thing between us, you won't walk away from it." We stared at each other. "Now get the hell out of my sight."   
  
His stare was dark, brow furred dangerously, but he stepped forward. I backed up to let him by. Just feeling him walk past me made me want to recoil. I looked down at Mars' body; my back turned. So, I suppose I'll never know exactly what happened next. All I heard was Neptune's scream.   
  
"No!!!", she cried. My head turned to see her run across the balcony. She attacked Jaedite from behind, sending them both crashing to the marble. I saw a glint of metal in his hand. A dagger. She was wrestling with him, but he was just so much bigger than she was.   
  
"Neptune", I whispered. Jaedite's sword clattered to the floor as it fell out of my hand. My body was frozen. All I could do was watch as he backhanded her. Her head rolled to the side from the force of the blow. He was on top of her. He raised the dagger over his head.   
  
I screamed when the blade plunged into her breast. Blood blossomed from the wound, running over the blues and whites of her fuku. She didn't cry out. Her back simply arched with shock and pain as he pulled out the small, deadly blade. I screamed again. "Neptune!!!!"   
  
Energy rose within me. I didn't even have to think about forming it. An orange ball of light built up in my hand; it grew larger and larger with each anguished cry. "WORLD....SHAKING!!!!"   
  
The blast blew Jaedite several feet away. His body was rocked with the kinetic force. I knew the wound had to be fatal. It gave me instantaneous satisfaction to know I was about to watch him die.   
  
But I was robbed of the pleasure. Directly behind his broken body, Beryl materialized. She said nothing, simply snapped her fingers. Jaedite faded as she took him back to wherever she had taken the others.   
  
My whole body was rigid. I closed my eyes, not wanting to open them again. To open them would be to watch Neptune die.   
  
"Uranus..." Her strained voice called to me. I couldn't ignore it. Couldn't let her be by herself.... Forcing my eyes open, I looked down. There was so much blood... Jaedite's dagger had pierced her heart.  
  
I kneeled next to her. "Neptune", was all I said before I broke down. I bent my head, tears falling fast and hard. "Please....don't....don't die."   
  
Her gloved fingers touched my knee. "I love you", she whispered. "I always...will.." Before I could reply, she was gone. Just as quickly as she had entered my life, she left it.   
  
My shoulders were hunched over. "No....no!!" I shook my head back and forth. "I need you, Neptune!! You...you're the only thing I've ever...loved." I slipped one arm under her head, lifting it into my lap. "I can't lose you. I won't lose you..." I lowered my mouth to hers in a feeble attempt to breath life back into her. I would have blown my entire soul into her body if it meant she could live. I kept at it for several long minutes. Only Pluto's entrance stopped me. Forced reality upon me.   
  
"Oh dear gods", the Time Guardian whispered, taking everything in. The bodies, the blood...and me. "Uranus..."   
  
I lifted my head numbly, but my eyes saw nothing. "Is the Queen safe?" It was all I could think to ask.   
  
She nodded. Her lips were pressed tightly together. "Luna and Artemis are with her." She spotted little Saturn's body. And Jupiter's, slumped against a stone pillar. "No...oh no..."   
  
"They killed them all. You're not seeing things." I looked down at Neptune as though really seeing for the first time that she was gone. "They killed them..."   
  
"Uranus." She approached me and put a hand on my shoulder. "I need you to be strong now. For all of them." I could hear the sound of her black boots against the balcony as she began to walk away.  
  
"Pluto?" Neptune's blood soaked my fuku, but I felt no warmth from it. I twisted my head. "Pluto...where are you going?!"   
  
She turned around and looked down at me with more sorrow than I had ever seen in a single person. "I have to leave. I'm the only one who can protect the Gates of Time."   
  
"But..." I touched a bloody hand to my forehead. "You can't leave me here! I can't do this..." Tears streaked down my face. "I can't do this alone, Pluto. Please!!"   
  
"Uranus." Pluto walked back and kneeled down, setting her staff onto the now-scarlet marble. "My dear Uranus. You have more strength than you will ever know you posess. Draw on it now. Fight until the battle is through. And when it's over...." She reached out and touched Neptune's cheek. "You will meet her again."   
  
I closed my eyes and shook my head. "I don't understand you, Pluto."  
  
She rose, staff in hand. "And you won't for a very long time." Behind her, a swirl of mist rose up, forming a black hole around her body. "Trust in our Queen, Uranus. She will take care of everything." The mist engulfed her and she was gone.   
  
I sat on the cold stone for a long time, holding onto my lover's body as though she would disappear if I let her go. I was fully aware that the Negaverse could return at any moment, to carry out their mission...end my life as they had ended the lives of my friends. A part of me wished they would.   
  
The guests and servants who had survived were beginning to emerge from their hiding places. They were tentative, scared. And when they saw the bodies, grief stricken.   
  
I paid no heed to them. Oh, believe me, if I could have, I would have buried every single Senshi myself. But as it was, I couldn't. I left that daunting task up to the people who's lives they had fought to protect.   
  
Serenity and Endymion. Jupiter...Mars...Mercury...Venus...Saturn. And Neptune. They were all gone. Ripped from this world in the most horrible ways possible. Why had I alone survived? What terrible deed could I have committed in my life to warrant such a karmic punishment? *If you don't think about it, it will go away.*   
  
On shaky legs, I stood, still holding Neptune in my arms. Several people watched me as I carried her through the ballroom and up what remained of the crystal staircase. I could only imagine what they were thinking as they watched Sailor Uranus carry Sailor Neptune's body into the depths of the palace.   
  
I kicked open the door to her bedroom and laid her down onto her four poster bed. Carefully, I folded her arms over her body and straightened her fuku's skirt. With a linen hand towel I found draped over a chair, I wiped as much blood as I could from her face and throat. Even in death, she took my breath away. Bending at the waist, I kissed her lips. They were still warm. "I'll be with you soon", I whispered.   
  
There was paper, a pen and plenty of ink in her writing desk. I peeled off my crimson-stained gloves, sat down and lit a candle.  
  
**********  
  
So, I wrote this story and now I'm done. In the next few hours, I will lead what remains of the Moon's army against Beryl and the traitorous Earth generals. I have little hope for our success, but it's a battle worth fighting. For the Silver Millenium. For the people of the Moon. For the princesses who died. For Neptune, if no one else.   
  
Pluto's final words to me still resound in my ears. "You will meet her again." I can't doubt that she means what she says, but can I count on it? If you've gathered nothing else from reading this, you must know that I'm not a person who places much value on sentimental ideas. Still, if there is meant to be something beyond this life, I would want it to be with Neptune in one way or another. I don't want to believe that we could have just ended back there on that balcony, ironically, the place we met.   
  
That's all. My story is done. Were you looking for a happy ending? If you were, you haven't read your history books, my friend. There can be no happy ending for the Silver Millenium and certainly no happy ending for myself and the love of my life. Perhaps that's why I wrote this; to correct whatever you might have read in those history books. Who knows what they say about us. For all I know, they could tell you that we simply died out of natural causes. No. We were, for lack of a better word, exterminated. We now exist entirely in your imagination.   
  
Keep us safe there. Tell your children and your children's children. Don't let them forget us. But please, don't mourn us. We laughed, we danced, we cried, we ate, we drank, we slept, we hoped, we dreamed. But most importantly, we loved. And that is what makes life worth living and dying for.   
  
H.R.H., The Princess of Uranus  
  
********** 


	6. 

**********  
  
Author's Notes (Part Two): I slipped several mythological references into this story that when I went back to proofread, seemed a bit obscure. They are as follows.   
  
Uranus called her horse Amaterasu, the Japanese Shinto Goddess of the Sun and Protectoress of the Emperor. Amaterasu's brother was the God of Wind and Storms, Susano-Wo.   
  
The Palace on Venus is called Minne Palace. Minne is an ancient Pagan Goddess who granted men and women the permission to make love.  
  
Mars refers to Serenity and Endymion's relationship as "Pelenian", in reference to a fictious race of people. Pele is the Hawaiian Goddess of Fire.   
  
Neptune's grandparents are Tangaroa and Triton, two different mythological representations of the God of the Sea. Neptune's home is called Benten-san Palace. Benten-san is the Japanese Shinto Goddess of Feminitity, Music and, altogether now, the Sea.  
  
Narisah, the fictious star system, is named for the Manchinean androgynous deity who fathered the twelve astrological signs.   
  
Oh and as to whether or not that "guardian of a distant star" that Uranus had a little...fling with was a certain Fighter....I'll let you be the judge of that:)   
  
Thank you for taking the time to read my story. I hope you had as much fun reading it as I had writing it.   
  
Kristen Elizabeth  



End file.
